Infinite Wills
by Garasu
Summary: An Epic Tale of a boy who struggles to make a choice, to learn that with time, anyone can change...and finally that sometimes, destiny should be embraced wholeheartedly. [Sacrifices Part B]
1. Introductions

Infinite Wills  ****

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Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV continuity of Tenchi Muyo! All copyrighted characters mentioned within this work are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer. Original characters are intellectual property of Garasu, intentional use without permission is bad manners.

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Infinite Wills

Part 1: Introductions

Author: Garasu

_Deep in the recesses of space, far away from even the furthest reaches of the Juraian empire, lies a world frozen in perpetual desert. Orbiting the double star system known to Terrans as omicron ceti, the planet Cepheus is covered with wide sandy expanses that could readily kill any being that was not prepared for the heat. Only surrounding the poles did the landscape make a drastic change._

The deserts of Cepheus slowly changed from desert to scrubland then finally to rainforests the further north a traveler went. It was there, in the northern and southern rainforests, where two separate civilizations first began to dawn. Both peoples of the planet were fierce and warlike, hence, it was only natural that when the two finally met they proceeded to destroy one another.

After centuries of war, the northern faction finally conquered the last stronghold of their enemy and the southern race became extinct. Sometime during the time that immediately followed the victory, a mysterious woman appeared before the current ruler. The particulars of this meeting have long since been relegated to myth, but the results were immediate. The king was granted legendary powers that would be passed from generation after generation of rulers, one single family ruling over the entire race. Because of this, the woman was instantly deified, to go down in the history of the planet as their patron saint.

For eons, this timeless woman watched over her people, training her priests in the arts of combat, giving them spaceflight and the power to travel amongst the stars. The moment they took to the stars, the Cepheans became a force to be reckoned with, conquering star systems with a swift efficiency that left the subdued races gasping for breath. This path continued to the present day where as it stands, the Cephean Empire stretches across thirty different systems and thirty five planets.

All of this was due to one woman, a saint among the Cepheans, a feared myth among the Juraians, who called herself Lady Tokimi.

** *

The lush hills responded slowly to the golden light that touched them, reaching forth their branches and leaves to catch the most amount of the life giving sunlight. Slowly, the night flowers began to retract their petals as the light climbed higher in the sky, giving way to the brilliant purples and reds of their daytime counterparts. Like the plants to sunlight, animals began to shake the sleepiness off and forage for their own food, everything answering the call of life with echoing cries of hunger.

The scene was no different for a small house nestled at the base of a mountain, framed by the green forests of the mountain slope to the back, cultured fields to the sides, and a beautiful crystal blue lake to the front. Its pleasant red tiled roof a stark contrast to the surrounding hills. Here, as with the surrounding forests, people began to stir with the first touch of light upon the glazed windows.

The first one to rise would have surprised any stranger in the household, as the young girl did not look any older than eight years. Considering her emotional state, however, everything would have been immediately understood.

Sasami rose slowly from her futon, sniffling slightly. Her water blue hair was a mess as it had come out of her hair holds during the night, and she rubbed the tears from red-rimmed pink eyes before glancing next to her.

Ayeka, her older sister, was still fast asleep, or at least apparently was. The older Juraian princess had always been a light sleeper, a fact that became more apparent when she and Sasami had begun sharing a room together. The young girl always had a problem with nightmares and would usually need to be woken up during the night at least once a week.

Ayeka quickly rose when she heard the stirring beside her, indicating that the little girl was dressing and preparing to leave the room. Sometimes Sasami didn't want to bother Ayeka when she thought she was asleep; this usually meant that the young girl would try to rise as quietly as she could and make herself busy with morning chores to avoid thinking about what had woken her up. That would almost always lead to worse nightmares the following night.

"Sasami?" Ayeka called softy, letting her sister know that she was awake, and more than willing to talk.

"Oh, Ayeka, I thought you were asleep," Sasami answered back, slowly returning from her position halfway to the door.

"I heard you waking up, and thought something might be wrong, would you like to talk about your nightmare?"

Ayeka patted the spot next to her and opened her arms for her little sister to snuggle into. Sasami had always loved physical contact, a trait inherited from the girls' mother. She especially liked the warm feeling of knowing that someone cared and was willing to listen to any problems. Often Ayeka would even untie her hair and let Sasami slowly braid the silken purple lengths while she talked.

Sasami sat in Ayeka's arms and looked up at her older sister curiously.

"How did you know I had a nightmare?" she asked, leaning back into Ayeka's warm embrace.

The elder Juraian Princess smiled warmly and loosened her hair, letting it cascade down her back to pool on the floor like a small pond of purple water. 

"Because you have that look in your eyes," Ayeka answered softly. "You're always so bright eyed after your nightmares because of the tears."

Ayeka leaned closer to her little sister, hugging her into a tighter embrace and let her hair spill around them.

"You're always braver than you should be Sasami. You should let your feelings go sometimes, it would do you well not to be so bottled up. You're still young, everybody would understand."

"I don't want to be a burden on anybody, Ayeka" Sasami answered shaking slightly. She had never liked being a tag along or troublesome. Often, despite the fact that the little girl did almost more than anybody else in the household, Sasami would feel like she was an outsider and therefore not really an accepted part of the Masaki clan. Really, it was because of the fact that she was so young that she felt this way. There was no one really around her age to identify with.

When she explained this to Ayeka, the purple haired princess leaned back and thought about what Sasami had just told her. It was true, there wasn't really anyone around that was close to Sasami's age that the little girl to talk with or play with even. Ayeka had always tried to be those things for her sister, she was always willing to listen to anything she had to say, and she always made time to play with Sasami; but still there just was a certain quality that was missing that Ayeka knew she could never provide.

Sasami began to slowly braid her sister's hair while Ayeka thought about the problem before her. There wasn't much the elder Juraian could do and she hated that fact. There were no local children around for Sasami to meet, nor did the little princess wish to return to Jurai, where many young courtiers would undoubtedly lavish fake affection upon her. Ayeka shuddered suddenly, she had remembered those times and hated them with a passion. Surrounded by young children who were supposed to be too young to understand the difference between the social status, yet were only all too aware of the fact. True, there were some younger children of minor nobles and even some from major families that were true hearted, but they were unfortunately few and far between.

Ayeka sighed, finally admitting that there was nothing she could do but maybe talk to Tenchi and see what he thought. If anybody around the Masaki house was willing to help Sasami it would be him, and he would maybe even know of some way to help out with the child's problem.

Ayeka sadly patted her little sister on the shoulder and rubbed it conveying her apologies for not being able to help. All she could do at this time was assure Sasami that she was not a tag along and was indeed very wanted amongst all the family members. Which she made sure to do just as the first stirrings from the rest of the house were heard.

Sasami quickly finished the single braid she was doing then got up and began to walk over to the door so that she may start breakfast as soon as possible.

"Sasami?" Ayeka stopped her before the little girl could get completely outside and bent down to look her little sister directly in the eyes. "We'll talk about your nightmare after breakfast, okay?"

Sasami smiled and nodded her head before dashing out of the door way and down the hall. Ayeka sighed quietly before closing the door once again to get dressed herself. It wouldn't do to make an appearance before anyone without being properly prepared.

Meanwhile, other residents of the Masaki household were beginning to tiredly wake up. Tenchi Masaki had already hit his alarm clock snooze button three times before he finally decided that it would do him no good to sleep any longer. Final examinations were going to be given today in most of his classes, and as a diligent student he had spent most of the night brushing up on anything that he could think of that might come up on one of the tests. This was the last school day before Tenchi and the rest of his school would be released for summer break and he definitely did not want to be late.

So, after a brief battle with his tired mind and several false starts, Tenchi finally lifted his head off the pillow and turned to the side of the bed. Whereupon his hands instantly came across a slightly rounded object and froze. Slowly his hands traced the contours of the unfamiliar object, scanning slightly spiked hair and a slight nose. The more and more his hands felt, the more Tenchi became dejected. It had been ages since Ryoko had snuck into his bedroom at night, why would she suddenly start again?

Tenchi was about to turn his head and lecture Ryoko about the ideals of privacy when a sudden thought came to his sleepy head all at once. She wasn't moving; there was no sound coming from Ryoko at all except a small rhythmic breathing pattern and a slight snore every few seconds.

The young Earthling turned his head and confirmed what his senses and instincts told him an instant before. The space pirate had obviously fallen asleep while waiting for him to wake up. 

Tenchi's facial features instantly softened at the sight of the sleeping form of Ryoko, her hair was matted cutely and there was a slight trail of liquid coming from her parted lips. From her position he could guess that she had been sitting by his bed before falling asleep as the woman's body was kneeling on the floor but her upper torso was lying over the foot of his bed. Slowly Tenchi extricated himself from the covers, careful not to disturb the sleeping demoness and rolled his eyes tolerantly with a slight chuckle.

"Really Ryoko," he said softly, talking more to himself than the sleeping form before him. "You should start getting more sleep elsewhere. What would Ayeka say if she were to find you in here?"

Personally, however, Tenchi didn't believe that that would ever happen. He knew from experience that Ayeka was always painfully polite, never going where she wasn't invited. In fact, now that Tenchi thought about it, he really couldn't even remember a time when the purple headed princess had been in his bedroom.

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Just as well, he thought to himself. _One beautiful woman clawing at my door is enough for me._

Tenchi caught himself at that thought and sighed gustily just as he walked out the door leading to the stairs descending down one level. It was never a good thing when he tried to compare the two women, they were just too different in the strengths and weakness to compare accurately. All it ended with was one large headache for him.

Yawning stiffly, Tenchi immediately made for the nearest bathroom to freshen up. As he descended the stairs that led to the second story, Tenchi could smell the familiar aroma of breakfast cooking and he smiled slightly. Today was the last day that Sasami would have to wake up early in order for the whole family to be together for breakfast. He never quite understood why the little Princess felt she had to do that every morning, but the sentiment was sweet and not wasted upon him nor the rest of the family. Mainly because they had all tasted his father's cooking at one point or another, and while not inedible, it certainly was not chef quality.

The young man quickly took care of his morning business then began to hurriedly make his way down to the breakfast table, lest he be late. Throwing his school uniform jacket over his shoulders and descending the final flight of stairs leading to the first floor, Tenchi almost ran headlong into Ayeka as she was coming up.

"Oh, Tenchi-sama. There you are, I was just about to come and tell you breakfast was ready." She began, then looked around to make sure that no one else was within earshot.

"Tenchi, could I also talk to you about something else? It's of some importance." She added, in a quieter fashion.

Tenchi was briefly taken aback by the fact that Ayeka should come looking for him to talk, but hid his surprise behind a polite smile and a nod of his head.

"Ugh, sure Ayeka-san. What can I do for you?" he replied, only slightly nervous by the fact that she was leading him to one of the lesser trafficked areas of the second floor. After all, this was Ayeka.

"Well, it's not for me that you can do something for, Tenchi, it's Sasami. You see she's getting rather homesick, and this feeling is only intensified by the age difference within the house. I was just wondering if you wouldn't maybe have any ideas as to what we might be able to do? I've been getting kind of worried about her lately." Ayeka said, after finally arriving in a small corner of the second floor solar.

Tenchi looked mildly distressed at what the Juraian Princess had just told him. He had never quite noticed a change in the bubbly girl's personality lately, but if Ayeka was getting worried enough to talk to him about it something must wrong.

"Well Ayeka, I don't really know what we could do." Tenchi scratched the back of his neck reflexively. He hated not being able to do something about problems, especially when they concerned members of his extended "family."

"I thought as much," Ayeka sighed dejectedly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Tenchi-sama, but I didn't really know who to talk to about this problem. I thought maybe you could at least offer an idea or two."

"I wish I could, Princess Ayeka." Tenchi replied sadly. "Unfortunately, none of the local children are her age. She could visit with my Aunt again, if that would make her feel better. I know little Taro would love the company."

"Perhaps," Ayeka pondered but then brought herself back to the present. "Either way, Tenchi, I suppose nothing can be done right now so we best go to breakfast before she hunts us both down."

Tenchi smiled and laughed a bit while Ayeka giggled. Sasami and mad never went well together. The little Princess was just too good natured to pull it off correctly. 

When Ayeka finally regained her control and Tenchi stopped chuckling, the pair made their way down to the breakfast table side by side chatting quietly about recent events.

"Where's Ryoko?" Sasami asked quizzically when Tenchi and Ayeka finally appeared together.

Tenchi immediately laughed nervously and told her that he had seen her sleeping after he had woken up. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell everyone that she had been sleeping in **his** room so the little half truth would have to do.

"Doesn't she want to come down for breakfast?" Sasami asked, pouting slightly from the unintentional hurt.

"I wouldn't worry about Ryoko," Washu put in as she sat down in front of the breakfast table. "She can go for weeks without eating and besides, I bet she was up awfully late last night so she'll need at least some rest."

Tenchi couldn't help but think that Washu was giving him an expectant look, so he avoided gazing in the little scientist's direction. 

"I'll **bet** she was up late," Ayeka muttered to herself at sat down next to Tenchi. It really wasn't fair sometimes. She was always polite and courteous to Tenchi's feelings and yet it seemed Ryoko got all the time with him because she was rude enough to go where she wasn't invited. Every once and while, Ayeka heartily wished she could damn her manners to hell, but she knew she would never be able to; they were just too ingrained. So with a sigh, she steadily picked up her chopsticks and began to eat with the rest of her family.

** *

Kiyone Makibi walked the halls of the empty station resolutely. It was almost two hours after her life had been turned upside down, and she still wasn't quite sure that the implications of what had happened sunk in yet. What was clear to her, however, was that her career was now over. The most depressing part was that that wasn't even speculation. She sighed silently and held back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her and continued on her way.

The past two hours for Kiyone, would have been sheer hell for any normal person, but for the teal tressed police officer, they were a life altering event and one that ultimately destroyed her confidence with the universe.

Kiyone palmed the door to her small apartment harshly, determined to work some her frustration on something, anything. Instead, as soon as the door closed, she collapsed onto the floor in a heap of exhausted tears. Right now, that was all she could think to do, and all she wished to do. Kiyone knew there was also no one around that would think to look for her and try to offer some comfort, she really had no personal friends in the galaxy police station; such was the life of an intensely career minded person.

As the sobbing slowly ebbed from Kiyone, she looked around at what had been her home for the past four years. There was almost no personal affects whatsoever; only the commendations of her superiors and various trophies won in inter-squad competitions. Everything in her room gave the distinct impression to visitors that Kiyone Makibi was professional, that she believed in her job and believed in the good she thought she was doing.

"At least, the good I thought I was doing." Kiyone mumbled to herself as she slowly rose from her kneeling position. She hadn't even realized that it had been over twenty minutes since she entered her apartment, and her knees were beginning to hurt.

Really, once the detective thought about it, it was amazing how simple beaurocracy could effect the Galaxy Police. All it took for an officers career to end was a cleverly made up story backed by some small bit of evidence and the lawyers were all too happy to press charges on behalf of a criminal.

"Unfortunately, I just happened to be the target of the month." Somehow, though, Kiyone's reasoning sounded flat to her ears, as if she was making up excuses for her own incompetence.

Kiyone stopped abruptly at that thought. Incompetence? Was she now believing in the lawyer's words towards the board of Inquiry so much that she now thought of herself in their own terms? New tears threatened to fall as every little mistake Kiyone had made in her short career suddenly washed over her mind and made themselves at least twice as bad as they were. 

"Incompetent, yes, that is what I am." Kiyone agreed with her mental arguments. How could she not be to make the sort of mistake that she had done?

Kiyone slowly made her way over to her bed and pulled out a small box that lay underneath it. Inside the simple brown box was a bag that looked like any normal police issue duffel. However, this one was much different than the little mission bags that were given to all Academy graduates. This one was more special than all of them put together, not to mention the fact that it had the carrying capacity of all the duffels in the entire force.

This bag was in fact a special gift to the top graduate in each class of the Academy. The secret to its capacity lay in the fact that it had a small subspace pocket woven into the little zippered opening, hence giving it the capacity of several trucks yet not increasing in size or weight.

Kiyone was not stupid. In fact before her entrance into the Galaxy Police Academy she had been an astrophysics major at the Science Academy. She knew that subspace pockets woven into potable items were notoriously difficult to create, which only served to make the bag more special to her. However, all those feelings soon evaporated at the sight of the small GP logo on the side of the blue bag. Still, it would be wasteful to throw it out now so Kiyone began to slowly gather the small amount of items in her room and pack them into the bag.

All throughout packing, she wondered where could she go next. Her room and board had been paid for or supplied through the various facets of the Academy and the Police Force, now suddenly without either in her life for the first time in five years, Kiyone had no idea what to do.

The first thought that came to her mind was her uncle. After her parents died, Kiyone's uncle took over her primary care. He was the nicest old man she had ever met and he spoiled his niece as only an extended family member could. In fact her ship, the Yagami, was a gift to her when she graduated the Academy.

Kiyone smiled at the thought of visiting her uncle again. It was the first genuine smile she showed all day. The last time she had been there was directly after she failed a psyche exam following her last mission paired with Detective Mihoshi.

With the young woman's name, came an unbidden thought into Kiyone's mind. She wondered just where the blonde detective was stationed now. The last she heard, Mihoshi was in charge of patrolling the non-interference preserve of the Sol System. Could it be that the klutz was still there, or had she been promoted to a busier sector?

Kiyone sighed, then sat up straight as her hands ran across the smooth configuration of glass.

"Glass? In this box? I wonder what it could be." Kiyone wondered to herself as she removed the item from the depths of the metallic box. What she saw forced a slow smile to come across her lips.

The item was a simple picture frame of some gilded metal. Its simplistic straight edges framed a small picture that captured two females in a happily relaxed stance.

One of the young women was a mirror image of Kiyone, only wearing the uniform of a simple patrolman. Her waist length teal hair was folded smartly under the bluish cap and the uniform of blue and white fit snuggly over her athletic figure. Patrolwoman Kiyone's face was much more relaxed then when compared to her later officer years. This fact was evidenced by the shy smile and the slightly amused expression reflected in her sappharine eyes.

The amusement was directed solely towards the person next to her. Someone she hadn't seen in almost a year and a half. The woman had a mass of blonde hair that went in every direction, yet somehow made it look like the hairstyle was purposefully done, her evenly tanned skin contrasted the bright innocent blue eyes. Mihoshi was always so carefree, and her wide smile showing her even white teeth made this fact blatantly apparent. The only problem was that from the moment Kiyone first met Mihoshi, long before the Academy, the blonde had always been somewhat prone to spectacular accidents. This amazingly didn't affect how many criminals Mihoshi had brought in.

Between Kiyone's precise methods and Mihoshi's erratic luck, the two had been one of the fastest promoted teams the force staffed. Their rise through the ranks was nothing short of phenomenal, until the last case they had worked.

Kiyone, fingered the inscription on the frame idly as she remembered the events that led up to her downfall. The scripted writing read "First time partners and best friends forever," but sadly that was not to be the case. Before, Kiyone had always been able to nonchalantly accept that Mihoshi was a klutz. Sometimes, but only very rarely, would it affect the case they were working on in a bad way. However, during the final caper, Mihoshi's bumbling had finally caught up with the teal haired detective.

Kiyone really couldn't blame Mihoshi, once she reflected on it. Unfortunately, at the time, being thrown into a huge drive core then being abandoned by her only partner and friend caused something deep within Kiyone's consciousness to snap. She was lucky that a nearby cruiser had picked up her emergency beacon only hours before her emergency air ration ended, otherwise she would have died in that cold void. 

Once back on active duty, alone because she had learned that Mihoshi had been reassigned to space patrol, Kiyone's only thoughts were of a violent end for her ex partner. Fortunately, she had managed to keep somewhere in her mind a rational thought and sought help. That was when she failed the psyche exam and was given a mandatory three weeks paid vacation.

Kiyone's smile once again softened her facial features. She had used those three weeks to visit her uncle. The kind old man had immediately inquired about Yagami's condition at the same time he gave her a heartfelt hug. Uncle Tarmin had always been an engineer first and a family man second.

The part that was a family man, however, was near fanatical. He had always done his best to raise Kiyone right, despite the fact that between his job and the lack of a wife prevented him from being there for her all the time. To Kiyone, though, he was everything. 

It was her uncle that first inspired her to become an astrophysics major, it was also her uncle that was the foremost supporter of her decision to enter the Galaxy Police Academy as well. While he wasn't able to be there physically sometimes, Uncle Tarmin was the only one whom Kiyone viewed as caring enough to give a damn about her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about telling her uncle about the latest development in her life, needless to say he would offer to try and help maybe even use his influence to get her back in but what would be the point? Kiyone would never be able to return after knowing that she had been officially fired. Besides, she never liked accepting help from anyone. If she couldn't do it alone by her merits it was not to be.

The last thought brought her out of Kiyone out of her self-induced memory trip. She needed to call her uncle anyway to make sure he was around when she got there. It wasn't necessary, as she had a key and an open invitation but Kiyone had the strong suspicion that she would need someone to talk to when she arrived.

After zipping the last of her personal belongings into her bag, Kiyone made her way over to the small communications link and activated the screen with a touch of a button.

"Contact Tarmin Makibi." She intoned, then waited as the connecting signal displayed.

"Yes, hello?" a voice sounded, followed seconds later by a picture of a slightly middle aged man.

Kiyone smiled. Uncle Tarmin hadn't changed one bit since she last saw him. He still had the scruffy looking beard of white hair and a crop of messy uncombed hair that perfectly matched the man's beard. His soft blue eyes never seemed to reflect anything worse than a gentle happiness that was supported by the many wrinkles surrounding his wide mouth; most of said wrinkles being caused by the fact that he never seemed to do anything but smile.

Tarmin's smile became immediately apparent as soon as he recognized who was calling him.

"Kiyone!" he exclaimed, the smile growing wider by the second. "You've finally decided to call you poor Uncle Tarmin and say hi."

Tarmin's smile, however, lasted only a few more seconds before he realized that his favorite niece had apparently been crying heavily.

"Kiyone, what's wrong? What happened?" He asked, more concerned than ever. It took a very life shattering event to make his niece cry and who ever had caused that will have hell to pay shortly.

"Uncle Tarmin, I...I was fired today." Kiyone hung her head in shame, new tears threatening to spill from her blue eyes. "I was accused of blatant misconduct."

Tarmin sat back in his chair and fumed for bit. This definitely required a call to one of his friends, who just happened to be the Marshall. Firing his niece was not to be tolerated, especially over such a trivial accusation. 

"I could make a call for you, Kiyone. You know Marshall Kuramitsu would never stand for this." Tarmin replied after fuming for several more seconds.

"No, Uncle, I don't want you to make a call. I got myself into this mess and I'll get out of it on my own merits. I'll find something to do, don't worry." Kiyone responded finding the strength to look into her Uncle's eyes. "Anyway, the reason I called was to see if maybe I could come stay with you for a while. I have no other place to go right now."

Tarmin Makibi looked at the woman that was in all respects had become his daughter. She was a strong willed person and if anyone could straighten out this mess it was Kiyone. He had always admired her spirit and her independence. Slowly a radiant smile spread across his face. Tarmin couldn't have been more proud at that moment.

"As you wish, dear. I won't interfere. I would love for you to come stay here, however, I've got another suggestion for you to try." 

Kiyone raised her eyebrows in askance and allowed her uncle to continue.

"Why don't you visit Mihoshi for a bit? I know you two haven't seen each other in ages and might be nice to finally straighten out the accident." Tarmin finished.

"I don't know uncle, since I'm not a part of force anymore I don't think they'll allow me to find out where she is, let alone visit her." Kiyone sighed. She was going to miss the fact that while she was on the force she could literally find out where anyone was at anytime.

"Nonsense, I'll ask Marshall Kuramitsu myself. Last I heard she was made resident officer on some backwater planet, I'm sure Mihoshi would love some company."

"Alright then, you're right it **has** been ages since I've seen her. It might be nice now that I don't have to worry about being official." Kiyone smiled.

"Great! If everything goes okay then, I'll see you in a few weeks, alright?" Tarmin waved to his niece and smiled brightly before looking off the screen and to his right. "I've got to go now, sweetie, looks like someone got lost building that new propulsion system I told you about."

Kiyone rolled her eyes tolerantly. The latest contract job her uncle won was a new propulsion system that promised better fuel efficiency and smoother sublight acceleration. With any luck she would be able to help him test the final stages of the project when she arrived.

"Alright, Uncle, you go set them straight and I'll talk with you when you call me with Mihoshi's location." Kiyone returned her uncle's wave then turned the screen off.

Taking one last look at her small quarters, Kiyone sighed sadly then palmed the lights off and walked out towards the docking bays. It would be a long trip into the unknown for the next few weeks, but Kiyone thrived on the challenges that were thrown her way. Who knew, maybe she might find herself liking the fact that she was off the force.

With thoughts for the future, Kiyone squared her shoulders bravely and set off down the corridor and into the unknown.

** *

Ryoko woke suddenly as a brief feeling of dread passed over her. It was all gone in a second, but she could for the life of her figure out what it was for or why she had had it.

Once the space pirate sat up, she took in her surroundings as they did not immediately make themselves apparent. The cleanly kept room was not her usual place on the rafters so why in the world was she here lying against a bed, not to mention the position she had apparently slept in had left her with a back ache like she never had before.

_Oh yeah, now I remember. _ Ryoko thought to herself and smiled briefly. She had come in here to watch Tenchi sleep again and must have dozed off. But if that was the case, why didn't he wake her and tell her to leave?

Ryoko's brief smile happily widened for a moment.

_He didn't make me leave, he actually allowed me to stay in his room! This is perfect, maybe he's starting to like me being in here and next time, I can stay awake so when he wakes up... _Ryoko rubber her hands together in glee. Finally her Tenchi was beginning to show his feelings for her; it was only a matter of time before he said the three little words she'd been waiting forever to hear.

With thoughts of Tenchi running around her head, Ryoko slowly began to get up and wonder where the boy was. _He must have woken up early and gone down to breakfast._ She reasoned, and phased to the floor level below. 

When Tenchi didn't make himself immediately apparent she teleported to the dinning room, suddenly feeling a bit hungry. What she found was an empty table. Sasami was not in the kitchen fixing anything, nor was Mihoshi happily setting the plates for breakfast. Where was everybody?

A feeling at the back of her head made her smile disappear momentarily. She knew that feeling and sighed at the inevitable. It was too early in the morning to deal with the prissy princess.

"Well I see someone finally woke up." Ayeka commented dryly and brushed past Ryoko. "Have a nice nap, Ryoko?" she added before sitting down on the couch with some yarn and a few needles.

"Of course," Ryoko smiled and phased over to where Ayeka had sat down. "Tenchi makes such a nice pillow."

Ryoko knew it was a mean comment, but she really didn't feel like playing fair with the Juraian Princess this morning. Though it was quite fun to see her reactions to certain things, especially when they concerned Tenchi. This time, the bait worked perfectly.

Ayeka stiffened and her face turned several shads darker before she got control of her anger.

"I see you've been confusing your dirty dreams with reality again, Ryoko. When will you ever learn that Tenchi maybe does not **like** it when you try to share his bed?" Ayeka spat, trying her hardest to gain control at the seething anger that threatened to overwhelm her.

Ryoko smiled slyly and sat down next to the fuming princess and giggled mischievously.

"Oh, Tenchi is just shy, that's what makes him so sweet. He'll come around, all I have to do is get him used to the idea."

At that point, Ayeka had had quite enough of Ryoko's teasing and rose from her seated position, intent on firing her best insults. Fortunately for the household, Mihoshi came running into the room at that moment yelling happily about someone coming.

"She's coming, she's coming!" Mihoshi hopped into the room, arms tightly clasped over her chest, and a big smile showing on her face.

Ryoko and Ayeka stopped they're insults mid-sentence and looked over at the blonde detective curiously, then looked at each other.

"Who's coming?" Ayeka asked, walking over to the bouncing blonde and holding her down.

"She's coming, my best friend in whole world is coming over here. I thought she died, but apparently she didn't and now she's coming to visit me. Isn't that wonderful?" Mihoshi asked and giggled within the strength of Ayeka's grasp.

Ryoko floated over and added her strength to Ayeka's just as a fuse snapped somewhere inside the princess's mind.

"MIHOSHI! You're not making any sense whatsoever, now CALM DOWN!" Ayeka yelled directly into Mihoshi's face, forcing the excited detective to blink at her several times and stop trying to bounce.

"Kiyone, my old partner and best friend in the whole universe." Mihoshi stated matter of factly, for all the world sounding as if it were the most understood thing in the universe.

"Wait a minute," Ryoko interrupted, releasing the blonde from her grasp. "You don't mean that Kiyone that you babbled on about when you told us that silly story, do you?"

Mihoshi nodded her head vigorously and her smile widened. 

" That's that one!" she exclaimed. " I told you that story was true."

Ayeka and Ryoko once again looked at each other, one confused expression a perfect reflection of the other. Both knew what the other was thinking as well as they considered the implications of what Mihoshi had just told them. Soon there would be another female in this house, possibly even vying for Tenchi's affections.

"When exactly is this Kiyone person coming here?" Ryoko asked only seconds before Ayeka thought to.

"Umm, let me see here." Mihoshi struck a thinking pose as she carefully considered all the things that her grandfather personally told her. "It takes several days for someone to get here from headquarters, and grandfather said she had left just this morning...so I think she'll get here maybe tomorrow evening."

The smile once again returned to Mihoshi's lips as she thought about the fun her and Kiyone would have once her friend arrived. They had so much to catch up on since they had last seen each other, so many things had happened. But it was kind of strange that Kiyone was taking a vacation. The teal haired detective never took any days off so when her grandfather told her that she would be visiting for a few weeks while on vacation, something in the back of Mihoshi's mind woke up and a few alarms began going off.

In the mean time, Ayeka and Ryoko were still staring at each other, both considering what to do about the situation. It wasn't as if they could or even wanted to make Kiyone feel unwelcome, that would possibly anger Tenchi, and they still had no idea what she was like. Still, the thought of someone else living in this household wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. 

Ayeka sighed and Ryoko felt like doing the same thing at the moment. There wasn't anything they could do now, it was now a waiting game to see what happened.

"Well, maybe another person around the house will be able to calm you down, Ryoko." Ayeka spat, suddenly remembering the argument they were having only minutes before.

"Maybe she'll be able to keep your attitude in check." Ryoko shot back, then turned her back on the princess just as Ayeka did the same. With an air of stony silence, bot women marched off in opposite directions, leaving a confused Mihoshi to ponder what had just happened.

** *

Kiyone entered the quiet docking bay nervously, checking to see if anyone she knew was standing around. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to her "friends" offer false words of comfort, as doubtless her firing was all over the station by now. It was better that she just disappear quietly and never look back towards the life she once had and could never have again.

For once, Kiyone was in luck. She encountered no one she knew on the way to her ship, nor was there any person apparent near the terminal where the Yagami was docked. Without talking with anyone, Kiyone had managed to slip aboard her ship unnoticed.

"Good Morning, Detective Kiyone." The Yagami's artificial intelligent unit greeted her the minute she was on board.

"Good morning, 'Gami." Kiyone returned politely. "Were you able to complete the systems check I requested last night?"

"Affirmative, Detective. All systems report green condition. Primary shield generators are online, secondary shields are charging. All weapons report green. There was just one problem." The computer voice droned intently.

Kiyone stopped and stared at the nearest speaker terminal where the computer voice was coming from. 

"What was that 'Gami?" she asked, curiously.

"Space Ops requested this morning for a file download of all case sensitive data, and sent the proper code for a memory wipe of all police specific data. Is there anything I should be aware of Detective?"

Kiyone smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Nothing important, 'Gami. Let them have the data and perform the scheduled memory wipe. We're on our own now." 

"I see," was the only the computer unit said. A few seconds later, a faint beeping sound was heard as the tasks that Kiyone had approved were performed. 

Kiyone's smile changed slightly from one of sadness to one of pride. The Yagami's computer unit was custom installed by her uncle when the last one began to get annoying. All the police ships in the galaxy police force were equipped with some form of AI in order to handle all the tasks that a patrol ship undertook in any single voyage. Sometimes, though, they would malfunction unexpectedly resulting in a few mishaps. After the second time the standard unit failed Kiyone almost at the expense of her life, her uncle insisted on installing a custom personality that he had been working on.

'Gami, as she liked to call "him" was one of the most efficient units she had ever seen. It was also a plus that the Space Ops team did not control every function that 'Gami did, making it impossible for anyone but Kiyone to control her ship. Right now, of all times, she was tickled pink that the brainiacs in Ops had to ask permission of **her** ship in order to obtain the massive police file records that the Yagami's main computer bank stored. That should reduce their egos a peg or two.

"Objective completed," 'Gami suddenly intoned followed by a quiet beep, only five seconds after the permission had been given.

Kiyone's prideful smile widened. Let the best standard unit try what 'Gami did in five seconds and the stupid thing would have blown a fuse.

"Excellent 'Gami," Kiyone replied as she reached the cockpit and sat down in her chair. "Please disconnect all power cables and prepare for launch. Set destination: Sol system."

"Roger, destination set, Sol System. Estimated time of Arrival using new hyperspace drive system: one point five days."

Kiyone smiled again. Yet another "add-on" by her uncle. Whenever she visited his home, it seemed he always had some new drive system for her to test or a new defense mechanism to "protect" his precious niece. Not to mention the countless armaments, all registered for private testing through his company, that he had given her. In the end, the Yagami was probably the most dangerous, fastest ship in the entire galaxy police force; besting even the Grand Marshal's personal ship, though not by much as he was also a personal friend of her Uncle's.

The next day and a half went by fairly smoothly. Surprisingly, Kiyone found that there was plenty for her to do to keep herself occupied. Sometimes it had even scared to find that she hadn't been thinking about her lost job for several hours at a time. She felt that losing her job should have been something that she could never recover from. Yet only several days after the event, Kiyone was already planning on the things she was going to do on her vacation as well as what she was going to do when she finally reached her uncle's home back on Epsilon Eridanis. 

Uncle Tarmin had promised her a very nice job within his company whenever she chose to take it. It wasn't even a really bad one either. She would be in charge of the weapons division and co-head the volunteer security force that constantly patrolled the top-secret laboratories that served as the division's home.

Her uncle was a very shrewd business man, all of the security team that volunteered during their time off were engineers of varying projects and as such were vary proud of their work. By the engineers protecting their own work, sometimes at a fanatic level, Tarmin ensured that there were incredibly few security leaks as all the engineers trusted only their co-workers and their boss. Introducing a new engineer to a team was like bringing someone into a new family. That new person had to earn the respect of all his fellow co-workers and until he or she did, was on probation status without clearance. This tended to weed out anybody who was interested in personal gains or spying for a rival company from applying at all.

Fortunately for Kiyone, she grew up around most of the R&D team and considered most of them pseudo-aunts and uncles. Their families were her family and it had been that way since she first came to live with her uncle almost twenty years ago.

A brief shadow crossed over Kiyone's face as those events came unbidden into her mind. She had come before Uncle Tarmin a scared three year old who had just lost both of her parents, yet did not understand why they were not coming back. It was only much later, when she was a teenager heading off to the science academy that her uncle was finally able to explain fully the events behind her parents disappearance.

Kiyone sighed and brushed an errant strand of her teal hair out of her eyes. She tried not to think much about her parents, as she had hardly knew them but sometimes it was hard, especially since she had all this free time on her hands suddenly. However, before her mind could engage on any more trips into her past, 'Gami appeared from the overhead circuitry and announced their arrival in the Sol System.

Navigating planetary systems was always a tedious business, especially around occupied worlds, fortunately, the people of the third planet were not sufficiently advanced enough to achieve anything more than inter-planetary flight, even then by unmanned spacecraft. Despite that, however, Kiyone still had to watch out for those unmanned vessels as an arrant radio frequency or being in the wrong place at the wrong time could result in the people of Earth discovering life on other worlds long before they really should.

Finally after a few hours of careful navigation, the giant blue orb of the third planet filled the forwards view screens. The image made Kiyone sigh inwardly. This planet for some reason reminded her a lot of her homeworld. True, there was less space traffic around the planet, but the look and even strangely, the feel of the planet, called to her mind the swirling blue colors of Eridanis.

Resolutely, the detective pushed all other thoughts out of her mind, and concentrated on an unguided landing. There were so little opportunities to travel to worlds that had no interstellar space flight that landing without signal beacons was almost becoming a lost art. Carefully, Kiyone avoided a hunk of scrap metal that vaguely looked like a primitive space station and inserted the Yagami into the atmosphere.

Finding Mihoshi was almost no problem even without the detailed instructions relayed to her by her uncle. Apparently, her ex-partner forgot to turn off the signal frequency again making her ship visible to the radar of any passing by interstellar race. Fortunately, the Sol System was a non-interference preserve set up by the Juraian Government and maintained by the Galaxy Police force, hence the lack of trouble Kiyone had in getting permission to enter. Express permission from the Grand Marshall was all that was needed and that she was given.

Deftly setting Yagami down by a small lake nestled between to mountains, Kiyone slowly started shutting down the various instruments that were only required to run during space flight. Finally, she engaged the subspace cloaking device that would hide the Yagami from prying eyes and began to exit her ship, already taking notice of the gathering crowd outside.

"Well, Mihoshi," Kiyone said silently to herself as she waited for the hatch to open. "Looks like we're finally together again."

Tenchi silently watched as the small red ship came to a rest over the lake. Unlike Mihoshi's spectacular crashes, this ship was controlled every step of the way, coming top a complete stop only when the hull was just inches from touching the surface of the lake. Outwardly, the young earthling showed nothing but a polite expression as the newest guest made her way down the floating access ramp. Inwardly, however, he was cringing. 

Tenchi had just started getting used to the idea of four beautiful women living in his house. He had all their silly quirks down, though definitely not understood, and had even began to settle into a somewhat normal routine again. Then came the morning that Mihoshi announced that her best friend, and ex-partner was coming for a visit. That had been yesterday morning, and now it seemed as if the gods had determined that he not have one quiet moment, lest he get bored. 

Tenchi sighed and tried not to feel too sorry for himself. It always seemed as if his troubles came in the form of beautiful women. Every other male, he assumed, would probably kill to be in a situation like his, but her only found it vaguely unsettling. Now, more trouble was on the way and true to Tenchi style she came in the form of a beautiful woman.

Upon closer inspection, Tenchi agreed with his thought on trouble, because there was no doubt that once Kiyone got close enough, she was quite pretty. Her hair was an interesting shade of teal-ish blue, several shades darker than Sasami's and factors darker than Ryoko's and was held out of her eyes by a bright orange headband. Her face seemed to belly her apparent strength as it was small and delicate in appearance, though Tenchi had no trouble imaging what this GP detective could do, should she need to. Kiyone's eyes, seemed to match her hair and the small secretive grin on her face seemed to suit its owner very well.

Kiyone's clothes, however were definitely designed to showcase her best feature: A Body that could kill, literally. After years of Martial Arts training and even attending multiple tournaments with his school's team, Tenchi had learned to appreciate the nuances that a body could hold. Kiyone's clothing showed her perfectly toned muscle very well, yet still managed to look conservative, as it didn't reveal too much skin. Her pants resembled denim vaguely and clung to her well formed legs perfectly. The tight fitting shirt of a light purple accented her skin color nicely and showed a modestly endowed chest, hidden only by a white vest.

Tenchi sighed, yes, Kiyone was quite striking and therefore high up on his "going to cause trouble whether she wants to or not" list. But that would all remain in his mind, for now, he had to be a gracious host and offer as politely as possible his hospitality and an introduction to the rest of the gathered Masaki "family".

Unfortunately, an over excited blonde detective got in his way. Before Tenchi could even mouth two words in greeting, he was flat on his stomach tasting the quality of the dirt surrounding his home. Vaguely, from his position, Tenchi could hear the excited ramblings of Mihoshi.

"KIYONE!!!" Before the teal haired woman could react she was swept up into an embrace that almost cut her circulation off. Smiling a bit at Mihoshi's antics, Kiyone patted the blonde's head and forced the woman to let her down.

"Hello, Mihoshi, it's been a while hasn't it?" Kiyone asked, slightly amused and out of breath. 

Kiyone hugged her friend slightly less enthusiastically then bent down to where Tenchi was still lying, dazedly in the earth.

"I apologize for Mihoshi, she sometimes gets a little enthusiastic." Kiyone said as she helped the young boy up. "I'm Kiyone by the way." She finished smoothly and shook his hand.

"Umm, Hello." Tenchi returned Kiyone's polite expression and her warm handshake. "I'm Tenchi Masaki, and this is my dad Nobuyuki, and grandfather Katsuhito." Tenchi introduced his direct family first then indicated with his right arm the four other girls slightly behind them.

"I'm sure you're already aware of Ayeka and Sasami Jurai," Ayeka bowed slightly in greeting and Sasami gave Kiyone a big wave. "The two beside them are Ryoko and Washu Hakubi." Once again Kiyone received a big wave this time from Washu, and a barley polite expression from Ryoko.

"Umm, nice to meet you," Kiyone said nervously while trying to shrug off Ryoko's stare. "I wasn't aware that the two Royal Princesses were staying here." She asked, looking inquisitively at the two Juraians.

Ayeka smiled politely, and answered Kiyone's slight question with a quick acceptable answer.

"We're somewhat on extended vacation here, Miss Kiyone," she said, quietly.

Kiyone nodded in understanding and turned once again to face Tenchi.

"I appreciate you letting me stay here while I'm on vacation as well, Tenchi. You're hospitality is very generous." Kiyone smiled shyly as a happy Mihoshi passed by her side carrying what small belongings that she Kiyone had, which amounted to only the small travel bag.

"Is this all you brought, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked confused. "I thought you were going to stay for at least a few weeks?"

Somehow, Mihoshi managed to look slightly hurt at the implied time Kiyone's visit could take. She had been really looking forward to catching up on old times with her friend. There was so much that had happened to her since they had last been partners, and Kiyone was presumed dead. If she was only going to stay for a few days how could they catch up on everything?

Kiyone smiled and was about to answer, but before she could, a curious Washu walked over and examined the bag.

"Hmm, interesting. There's a small subspace pocket woven into this bag. Kiyone," Washu switched her scrutinizing glance over to where Kiyone was helping Tenchi dust himself off , unaware of the jealous stares given by Ayeka and Ryoko.

"Hmmm?" Kiyone looked up when her name was called and found the diminutive scientist staring directly at her.

"You said you were Galaxy Police, did you not?" Washu added, still looking at Kiyone expectantly.

Kiyone thought for a moment, deciding in an instant exactly how much to say at this time.

"I don't recall mentioning it, but I'm sure Mihoshi told you something about that, so yes." Kiyone answered truthfully. It was hopefully the best way to steer clear of answering any difficult questions that she did **not** want to answer at this time.

"So, you graduated top in your class at the Police Academy, then, did you?" Washu asked, top Kiyone's surprise.

"Yes, I did. I was actually number one in my class." Kiyone added matter of factly. "I how did you know that they give bags such as these to the top graduates?"

The two were interrupted by a happy laugh from Mihoshi as the familiarity of the bag clicked in her mind.

"Oh, now I recognize this bag!" Mihoshi cried happily. "You got yours dyed blue, because it was your favorite color, isn't it Kiyone? I have one just like this upstairs, so no wonder I didn't recognize it, because mine is more of a beige in color."

Washu stared at the Rambling blonde for a few seconds, then returned her gaze to Kiyone and asked quietly.

"You mean **she** graduated top of her class as well?" Washu pointed over to where the blonde detective was still rambling about the colors beige versus blue and how they were both Mihoshi's and Kiyone's favorite colors respectively.

Kiyone smiled and nodded. 

"Mmhmm, third in the same class as mine. Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?" Kiyone added, whispering into Washu's ear.

Washu blinked several times, considering everything that Mihoshi had done while living under the Masaki roof.

"Actually, no." Washu added a few seconds later. "You haven't seen what she's like here. Sometimes, I'd be really willing to believe that."

Kiyone stared down at Washu for a second, questioningly. The pink haired scientist just threw a really big grin.

"She's some kind of genius, I swear." Washu added, just as Mihoshi was beginning to wind down her comparison between beige and blue.

"Well, now that everyone has met," Katsuhito interrupted suddenly Making Kiyone and Washu jump. "Shall we get back to finishing lunch?"

Sasami smiled and began to run towards the house yelling over her shoulder that she had a place set for Kiyone already, but the rest of the family should hurry or their lunch would get cold.

As the makeshift family began to drift back towards the house, Kiyone singled Tenchi out and matched his walking pace for a second.

"Please excuse my sudden appearance Tenchi, I also want to thank you again for welcoming me into your family's house like this."

Tenchi smiled warmly.

"It was no problem, Kiyone. After all, your appearance was somewhat normal. It was a nice change."

Kiyone stopped for a second to consider what the earthling boy just said as Tenchi continued to walk towards the house, Ryoko and Ayeka each pointedly taking opposite sides of him. Finally, however, she gave up and allowed herself to be dragged inside the house by Mihoshi. This trip, she had a feeling, was going to be very interesting.

** *

The wide expanse of the Grand Temple filled Urchoíd's vision as he approached the ancient structure. According to legend, this temple was built within the first few years after a strange woman appeared. This strange woman, who would soon become the Patron Saint of all Cepheus had given the current ruler powers beyond all imagination, and in return, the king declared her a saint and immediately began making plans for this temple in her honor. Carved out of solid rock as it was, the Grand temple was a sight that awed even the most skeptical of people. There were even rumors that divine power went into its building.

Looking upon the sunken face of the temple, Urchoíd was willing to believe the rumors. While the mountain itself was of just plain sandstone, the Temple façade seemed to glow with an ethereal light of its own, often giving it the appearance of gold. The temple face was itself simplistically carved, reflecting the architectural style that was popular centuries ago. It was decorated with very few statues, most added during the centuries after the temple had been built. All of the plain sandstone statues depicted the various religious heroes that had performed feats that could only be described as divine miracles, each glowing with a light of their own.

Besides the statues, only the huge gilded doors and a few windows gave the Temple's appearance away. The doors themselves being huge monstrosities carved from several hundred individual trees. Since wood was also a scarcity at the time the temple was built, they reflected the high esteem in which the patron saint was held almost more than the gilded gold that was worked into the doorframe.

Urchoíd brushed a lock of his jet black hair from his eyes and looked up, just as he reached the entrance way. The height from this angle was almost dizzying, in fact as a flock of birds flew by, only halfway up the temple façade, Urchoíd could feel himself beginning to become a bit sick in the stomach. 

Urchoíd shook his head violently, sending his hair flying in different directions. It wasn't the time to act like an awestruck child. He had been summoned to appear before the high priest of the Order; it was a gift not bestowed upon anybody for centuries, and one that he did not intend to take lightly. Resolving himself, and his fate, Urchoíd pounded on the doors with his fist in the customary three times then stood back to wait.

While waiting, the young warrior thought back to the events that led him to this place. He had been born into his station of a warrior, trained and brought up in the martial ways of his people, yet there always seemed to be something different about him, when compared to the rest of his race. First of all, his appearance was sometimes regarded as highly unusual, if not uncommon. His straight, lengthy black hair was a trademark of his people, though, as was his slim wiry frame.

Cepheans had always been a contradictive race, appearing perhaps a bit weak because of their common tendency to be very thin. However, underneath their light complexioned skin was hidden a skeleton of remarkable constitution. It was very rare when a Cephean would break a bone, and when they did, the forces involved were just short of super human. Over the flexible skeleton was a complex network of muscle that was designed to be as thin a profile as possible yet still give maximum output. Designed was also the correct word to use as well, because a few decades ago Cephean scientists mastered the art of Genetic engineering, resulting in a species that was tough, fast and very smart.

What set Urchoíd Dorchacht apart from the rest of his people was the color of his eyes. They were a strong golden yellow, a trait which appeared in his race only once or twice every few generations. When this trait appeared, the person often lived to become one of the few that served the Patron Goddess personally. Because of this, Urchoíd had been given the best in everything. He had received training from his people's highest masters, was given the best education that his people could give. So when the summons came, addressed from the High Priest himself, it came as no surprise to him or his friends. Now, standing at the very foot of the gigantic doors waiting for them to open, Urchoíd was experiencing his first doubts about the whole thing.

Slowly, a creaking noise brought Urchoíd from his ruminations and he looked down curiously. The huge doors began to slowly part, groaning with age every centimeter they spread. It took all of five minutes to create a space in which a man could walk through, during which Urchoíd could just barely make out the appearing figure before him.

Once the doors were open to the extent that the warrior could walk through comfortably, they stopped. Urchoíd was then face to face with a slight robed figure. The first impression that was given about this new person was the age of the man. He must have been over two centuries old to look the way he did! Considering that Cepheans rarely lived beyond one and half centuries, this man **must** be the High Priest that had sent for him. Though, for the life of him, Urchoíd could not imagine why the ancient figure answered the door himself rather than send an Acolyte to do this.

Slowly, Urchoíd dropped to one knee, determined to show respect to his elder and the only man in their society who could reverse a king's decree. His respect was rewarded by a raspy chuckle and a light hand that came to a rest upon his shoulder.

"Rise, young Urchoíd Dorchacht, I thank you for answering the summons so quickly. It gives me great pleasure to stand before you today." The old man said, voice barely projecting a volume greater than that of a whisper.

Urchoíd slowly rose and took a second closer look at the man before him. The High Priest of Cepheus was a man born into his station. The instant that the former priest died, the Acolytes would begin searching for the new one. To this day, no one outside of the temple knew how the Acolytes could tell, but always without fail they choose a successor who brought the word of the Lady to the people.

Urchoíd was willing to guess that within the next decade, the Acolytes would once again be sent out to search for a new High Priest, as he looked over the profile of the man before him. The priest's hair went snow white decades ago, and began thinning even longer before that. Still, despite the extreme old age, the old man still presented a strong profile that wasn't hunched at all, like some older people tended to do. The strong blue eyes reflected a kind gentleness that forced anybody to instinctively like the man, and his face was etched with the lines of the hundreds of smiles the priest had worn over his lifetime.

Still, despite the kindness, there was something very subtle about the priest, something that lay hidden underneath that kind smile and gentle eyes. While Urchoíd could not place it directly, he could practically feel the power radiating out from the soul before him, and the strength of this power unnerved the young warrior right down to his core. A man with this much power was not someone to be trifled with, fortunately though, he was a priest and by that nature, was not inclined to starting fights. Still it was something that Urchoíd, for all his instincts, was wary about.

"I live to serve my Lady's will." Urchoíd answered simply to the priest's greeting, choosing to say as little as possible yet still remain highly respectful towards the great man in front of him.

"Hmm, yes, I'm sure you do." The High Priest mumbled over a slow lazy smile. This Urchoíd was certainly an interesting person, he was very glad that the Lady's choice was such a good one. Instantly upon meeting him, the priest could tell that the young warrior was a man of great character and integrity. He had already heard of the exploits this young man had gone on and the impressive service record he carried with him, yes Urchoíd did appear to be everything his Lady was looking for.

"Well then, enough of just standing here in the heat. Shall we begin?" The priest's smile widened as he side stepped and invited Urchoíd to enter into the darkened temple beyond him.

It took several moments for Urchoíd's eyes to adjust to the dimly lit interior of the temple. Electricity was forbidden the Acolytes; as such, the cavernous interior was lit only by the light of huge torches. The young man stood, fascinated by the design of one such torch immediately to his left, it was a huge metal tripod with a disk of the same material placed on the three legs. He could imagine that a large pool of oil lay within the cauldron of the disk to fuel the smokeless fire.

The High Priest let him explore the immediate interior for several minutes and watched with a bemused expression as Urchoíd's eyes roamed the wide expanse of the interior temple.

"This interior hasn't changed in the millenium since it was built," he told the wide eyed warrior and then began to walk off down the torch lit corridor.

Urchoíd followed the swiftly moving priest as best her could, amazed at the pace the old man could set forth. They past huge alcoves that were not lit by torches, but instead let the sunlight of the two Cephean suns cast an eerie column of light upon the occasional statue that was set within the alcove. Everywhere Urchoíd looked he could see stone columns of magnificent height, beautiful alcoves with detailed statues that rivaled the finest art he had ever seen, and every once in a while he would catch a glimpse of a beautiful central garden when they passed by a glazed window.

"Please, Mhórgacht, tell me how is it possible to have a central garden in a temple carved directly from stone?" Urchoíd addressed the man in front of him by the most respectful title he knew, hoping beyond hope that he would stop and share with him some of the temple's secrets. He imagined that some had not been seen by an outsider in countless years.

The High Priest stopped suddenly and turned to face his follower. In the dim light, Urchoíd could see a slight smile etched upon his lips.

"Please, young one, do not refer to me in that manner. I have not yet earned that much respect."

"Then what do you prefer to be referred to," Urchoíd asked, wondering why the priest felt that he had not earned the right to be given the title of Mhórgacht.

The priest smiled and turned suddenly, resuming his swift pace down the hallway.

"If you must refer me as anything, call me Father Sagart, for you are now one of my children, and Sagart is the name that was given me by my parents."

"Then please, Father Sagart, could you answer my question?" Urchoíd asked, once again catching up to the swiftly moving priest.

"All in good time, young one, all in good time." Sagart answered back then remained silent for the rest of the trip.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking down dimly lit corridors and passing numerous doors, all of which were closed and locked, Sagart stopped before a plain wooden entrance way guarded by two statues depicting the two most holy knights in Cephean history on either side.

Urchoíd reverently gazed upon the features of the intricate statues. These two were the first of the knights to joining the holy order serving the Lady. They established the routines and practices that were still alive and taught today. The brothers also formed the basis of all martial knowledge that had been trained into Urchoíd since he could walk; but most importantly, they were the first to ever to appear with the golden yellow eyes, and the only twins in history to do so. To Urchoíd, Sprid and Neart were gods among Cepheans and to see them sculpted into statues that looked as though they were made yesterday was like a small miracle in itself, for only one statue of Sprid had ever been found intact and none of Neart were ever recovered. 

"They are your ancestors, you know," Sagart added conspirationally. "Where else could you have gotten those eyes of yours?"

Somehow, that these two were his ancestors left a pit in Urchoíds stomach. How in the world could he ever live up to their greatness?

"You'll never have to, young Urchoíd," Sagart told him, as if reading his mind from the scared expression on the young man's face. "Now I have someone here who has been waiting a long time to meet you. You really shouldn't keep her waiting either."

With his final sentence, Sagart opened the small door in front of the pair and indicated that Urchoíd should enter. Once the young man followed the priest's directions the door closed gently but firmly and enclosed the warrior in complete darkness.

There was no light emanating from the room in which Urchoíd now stood, save for a slight bluish purple glow that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. All the young man could see was darkness before him and darkness behind him, in fact he would have been willing to believe that he was not even in a room anymore were it not for the fact that he could still feel the solid ground beneath his feet.

"Welcome, my young warrior. I've been waiting some time for this moment to come."

Urchoíd jumped as the voice penetrated the darkness. It was decidedly feminine, with a sweet undercurrent to it that made the voice very pleasant, almost musical to listen to.

"Wh-where are you, who are you?" Urchoíd stuttered over the first few words, nervous that he could not see anything and that there was obviously someone else in the room with him.

The voice laughed richly, and Urchoíd forgot his nervousness in an instant. Such laughter was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

"I forget that your kind and others like you do not like disembodied voices." The voice added a second after the laughter died. A few more seconds later, Urchoíd could make out a ghostly figure approaching him. The closer it got, the more substance was added and the more defined the woman became. When she was about three meters from Urchoíd, his eyes widened in recognition and he dropped to one knee immediately keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

"Please excuse my rash behavior, my lady, I could not know it was you who was in this room!" Inwardly, Urchoíd was cursing his dense behavior, who **else** would be in a room such as this?

"Rise, young Urchoíd. I did not mean to frighten you." Lady Tokimi approached the kneeled warrior and gently lifted his head so that his eyes were forced to meet with hers.

Urchoíd was instantly entranced. Why didn't any of the history books or priests talk about the lovely eyes in which their lady was gifted with? They were the color of the most beautiful amethyst he had ever seen. 

Lady Tokimi smiled at the entranced expression her young warrior wore. The young man was not without his good qualities either. Looking deeper into his soul, she also knew in an instant why Sagart liked him so much.

"Tell me young Urchoíd, do you know why you were summoned to this place?" Tokimi asked, once the boy had risen.

"To serve you, my lady, to the best of my abilities." Urchoíd answered immediately.

"Yes, to serve me." Tokimi agreed. "But to serve me in a way that has never been done before, a way that only you, Urchoíd Dorchacht could do."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Lady." Urchoíd said, trying to follow everything the goddess said and still keep those lovely eyes of hers within his vision.

"You will understand in good time," Tokimi smiled, echoing the same statement that Sagart had said earlier.

"For now, all I need to know is one thing, my warrior. Will you serve me faithfully and to the best of your ability until the day you die?"

"From now until all eternity," Urchoíd answered unshakably, and once again kneeled before his patron goddess, now his master.

Lady Tokimi laughed once again, a rich laughter that left Urchoíd's heart singing.

"Then so it begins, my young friend." Then darkness surrounded them both.

****

End

_Author's endnotes: Wow, this second draft just kept getting bigger and bigger! Sorry this took so long to get out, but I **really** didn't like the first draft so I had to a lot of re-writing with this one. The second chapter, draft 1 is completed so all I have to do is line it up with the changes I made in here and it should be ready. So until next time, I hope you enjoyed this one and as always comments and criticisms are always welcome. As this is draft 2, pre-readers are also needed for draft 3 so if any wish to volunteer just e-mail me._


	2. Awakenings and Realizations

Infinite Wills2 **** __

Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV continuity of Tenchi Muyo! All copyrighted characters mentioned within this work are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer. Original characters are intellectual property of Garasu; intentional use without permission is bad manners.

****

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Infinite wills

Part 2: Realizations and Awakenings

Author: Garasu

"Ouch!"

"Tenchi," Katsuhito Masaki sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. "How many times have I told you to pay attention? Haven't you learned anything I've tried to teach you?"

The elder Juraian knew that his grandson had the potential to become a very good student, yet it seemed that more and more, the young boy listened less. This had been happening more and more since he had let Ryoko out of the cave, resulting in the arrival of five other women. It was very easy to see why the boy was so distracted, though. It was hard to remain indifferent when all of the girls currently living with the Masaki family were very beautiful and in some way or another were competing for his attention.

Tenchi Masaki rubbed the spot where his grandfather's bokken had him. This one was going to hurt for a while.

"I'm sorry, grandfather," the boy answered, guiltily staring at the ground. "I guess I've been a little distracted lately."

"Mmm," was Katsuhito's only reply; at least the boy had enough sense to admit his indiscretions, a large credit to his personality.

"I've told you before, Tenchi," the old man continued. "Distractions have no place here. You must be able to fully concentrate on the task before you. You cannot do that with a mind full of the day's problems."

"I know, Grandpa." Tenchi nodded. He knew that his grandfather was right about the distractions. How else was he supposed to be able to learn anything, if he could even get a few simple thoughts out of his mind. More specifically, one single thought.

Katsuhito sighed again and looked down.

"I see we're going to have to simply find a way for you to forget everything but the moment before you. Now, are you ready to go again?"

Tenchi nodded and altered his stance so that he stood in a lose defensive position.

"Set!" Katsuhito yelled, and saluted the young boy across from him.

"Hai!" Tenchi returned the salute and tightened his position. Ready for his grandfather's attack.

An attack that never came.

__

Geeze, what is he doing? Tenchi asked himself. Roughly a minute had gone by, yet his grandfather still stood there, perfectly echoing the stance that Tenchi himself held. _Does this mean he wants **me** to attack **him**? But he never does that._

Tenchi had always became nervous when his grandfather changed styles during practices. It usually meant that the elder gentleman was trying to introduce something new, which almost always meant a new set of bruises for Tenchi.

Finally after another minute of staring at each other, Tenchi grew impatient. Lowering his guard to that of an offensive stance, he calmly drew in a breath and rushed his grandfather. As he ran, Tenchi tried to consciously remember what his grandfather had said earlier. The young man cleared his mind of nothing but the target in front of him and attacked with every move he had learned since beginning training.

Each attack that Tenchi made was quickly and efficiently blocked by his grandfather. In fact, the older man barely even moved his feet as the wooden blade in his hands countered each move. Soon, it was Tenchi's turn to go on the defensive as his grandfather made sudden lunge at a particularly wide-open area of Tenchi's body.

The boy's eyes widened as he wrenched himself out of the way just in time to feel the air generated by the bokken passing by. 

__

That was too close, Tenchi thought as his Katsuhito simply altered the bokken's position artistically and came around for another pass at the dumbfounded boy.

__

What is he doing!? Tenchi violently wrenched himself out of the way of yet another potentially dangerous blow and tried to orient himself. His grandfather's attacks were like nothing he had ever done before. They were all designed to effectively immobilize the opponent, yet he was not pulling them in the least.

__

Great, now what? Grandpa's trying to kill me! Tenchi thought to himself as he frantically dodged another swipe. His grandfather didn't stop either. No sooner than one attack be dodged another would come in it's stead, each the same as the last but aimed at a different vulnerability. It immediately became evident to Tenchi that he had better start fighting back, as this swipe and dodge approach would not be able to go on forever. But for the life of him, Tenchi could not figure out how to counter such moves.

_Think, Tenchi, think! How in the world can you defend against these attacks? _Tenchi was becoming desperate as each of the swipes his grandfather made became closer and closer. He valiantly tried not to think about the bruise that would be left should he be hit, but it still occasionally ran through his mind that it would definitely be **big**.

_Shut up!_ He told his mind violently, forcing all but the task at hand off of his brain. As soon as that happened, though, the strangest feeling came over him. Instead of the constant tightness of his muscles that he had become accustomed to, he now felt everything relax threefold. What was even more amazing was that his own bokken, lying forgotten in his right hand, suddenly came up to meet the next attack his grandfather attempted.

Tenchi stared at the crossed bokkens strangely. How in the world had he done that? It wasn't like that feeling he had long ago when the Tenchi-ken took over his mind to defend himself against Ryoko. He had not felt like it was himself or even his own experience that was fighting then. Now, however, the block took on a familiar tone, like something he had learned before but had forgotten in his anxiety.

It came as an even less surprise, but a surprise nonetheless, when the next attack was blocked. It seemed to Tenchi that the counters he was making were all familiar in some way, yet he could not remember exactly **when** he had learned them. However, rather than try and forcefully remember where he was pulling this knowledge from, Tenchi let them flow from his mind. Blocking each gesture from his grandfather as they came.

Soon, a pattern began to develop somewhere inside Tenchi's mind. The attacks his grandfather was making, the counters he was returning all began to meld themselves together to form a single entity within his brain. Whole entire sets would call themselves forth when needed then recede once they were used. Within moments, Tenchi was anticipating every move his grandfather made and had a counter prepared before the attack came, all from recognition of which various forms his opponent was using.

Tenchi felt a sense of elation came over him as he blocked each attack with greater efficiency. He was almost delirious when his counters began to transform themselves into attacks, driving his grandfather on the defensive. Slowly, the joy spread itself to other parts of his mind, effecting the instinctual moves he was making. Almost as soon as it came on, the feeling left him and Tenchi slowly watch with horror as his attacks disintegrated before his very eyes.

The transition inside Tenchi's mind went very quickly from his point of view. One moment he was attacking his grandfather, the next he was defending, and finally he was staring at the point end pressed against his throat. Tenchi closed his eyes slowly and willed his heart to slow down, it gave him some small satisfaction that his grandfather was at least slightly winded as he struggled to find out what exactly had happened.

"What... what happened?" Tenchi asked shakily, once his heart had slowed enough and his mind began working normally again.

"You lost your concentration again." Katsuhito answered quietly. "You allowed your emotions to effect what you were doing, and as soon as that happened, you fell apart."

"But I can't just let it all go grandfather! How am I supposed to be able to fight if I have no reason to fight?" Tenchi was grasping at straws with his reply. He was both scared and awed with the feeling that had overtaken him just moments ago. But once again, it seemed to him like the sword, something he could just do sometimes, but never control.

"It takes time, Tenchi, do not worry." Katsuhito replied, as if he was reading the younger boy's mind. "You did well for the first time. You will learn to control it soon, and even begin to summon those instincts at will if you just concentrate hard enough."

Tenchi stared hard at the ground and nodded his head.

"Hai, Sensei." He replied demurely.

Katsuhito smiled suddenly, and ruffled to boy's head in an uncharacteristic gesture of affection. 

"Now Tenchi, you should go wash up for dinner. I'm sure none of our guests would appreciate you sitting at the dinner table smelling like that." The elder man joked, then turned around to walk back to the shrine, leaving Tenchi all alone with his thoughts.

His Grandfather's words instantly made Tenchi's thoughts return back to what had been distracting him before. The fact that he now had five distractingly pretty women living with him was something that haunted him every waking moment, yet he still could not find a solution to the problem that bothered him so much.

Tenchi had always regarded himself as a bit dense when it came to the opposite sex. He just could never tell when a girl was interested or just being friendly, but that certainly was not the problem here. Tenchi very plainly knew that at least Ryoko and Ayeka were not just being friendly when it came to giving him attention, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what to do with that knowledge.

Tenchi sighed as he walked into the storage closet with his bathing materials. When it came to those two girls, he never knew what to do. He had long ago determined that he liked both of them, quite a lot, really. But they expected him to make a choice between the two of them. How in the world could he make a decision like that? It would obviously hurt one deeply to choose the other, yet there was no escape for him! 

By the time Tenchi let out a disgusted sound at his predicament, he was shouldering the door to the floating onsen open and ignorantly walking in. It always seemed that he could never win, ignore the problem and it got worse, give it some attention and he ended up hurting somebody. Why couldn't they just leave him alone for a change?

Tenchi quietly slid into the warm waters of the bath and sighed. He never really noticed how much he ached until now, his muscles complaining with every effort he put them. Tenchi closed his eyes and tried to relax resolutely ignoring a strange feeling in the back of his mind. Something that screamed danger.

_That's silly, _he told himself. _What in the world could possibly be threatening in here?_

"Umm, Tenchi?"

Tenchi froze at those words. They were feminine, for certain. 

_You're in big, **big** trouble, Tenchi. _His mind told him as he slowly opened his eyes. Inwardly, he cursed his stupidity for not checking to see if there was anyone inside when he came in. At the same moment, he regretted even opening his eyes.

Tenchi's eyes widened uncontrollably at the vision in front of him. He could feel the blood beginning to rush from his head, as Tenchi could definitely feel the light-headedness that came with the phenomenon, not to mention a small trickle from his nose.

Kiyone, her body wrapped in nothing but a small bathing towel stood before him, perfectly still. The teal haired woman's lips were quirked into a mysterious half smile at Tenchi's reaction. The fact that Kiyone was sitting down facing him did not serve to make matters better, as from where Tenchi was sitting he had an almost perfect view of her shapely chest.

Tenchi slammed the breaks hard as his mind began to wander to other realms. This was defiantly not a good situation, in his opinion.

"Umm... excuse me please, Ms. Kiyone. I really didn't know you were in here." Tenchi managed to stumble out as he cast his eyes downward. Anything to get rid of the vision before him.

"That's alright, really." Kiyone replied, smiling widely. It was nice to know she could still cause a reaction in some people. "I'm used to bathing with others so it really doesn't matter much to me."

"I...I guess I'll leave you alone, now." Tenchi made to get up and remove himself from the bath but found a quick hand restraining him.

"You don't have to leave, Tenchi." Kiyone added seriously. "You looked like you really needed this luxury today and I know you didn't mean to come in here while I was here." Then she smiled again. "Besides, I'd enjoy the company."

Tenchi chuckled nervously and sat down, as far as comfortably possible from the woman in front of him. All he needed was for Ryoko or Ayeka to join him and he'd be in some serious trouble.

"Thanks." He smiled. "You're right, I **did** need this today. My Grandfather decided to really become serious about training today. Which usually means more bruises for me." 

While Kiyone chuckled, Tenchi sunk low into the water until just his face was visible above the water line and closed his eyes blissfully. It had been a long time since he came back from practice as sore as he did today. Privately, he wondered why the elder man chose this day of all days to switch training tactics. It wasn't as if he and his Grandfather had been training together for years before this, nor was it apparent that there would be any time soon in which they wouldn't be.

Kiyone for the most part remained silent, watching the young boy surreptitiously. She had only just arrived a few days ago and still hadn't quite gotten used to the living situation here. At first, it had been nice to stay in the same room with Mihoshi. They had a lot of catching up to do, after all. After the first day, however, she felt her old temper begin to re-emerge after the fifth accident. Kiyone had forgotten how many minor accidents could happen around the blonde detective on any given day.

_Still,_ Kiyone thought. _It **is** nice to see her again; she was one of my only friends after all. Even if it was a strange relationship straight from the start._

Then, there was the rest of the female population of the Masaki household. Kiyone still did not know what to make of any of them. Sasami, of course, was nothing but sweet and a good cook to boot. Her sister, Ayeka, was for the most part friendly but would sometimes give her a funny look if she talked to Tenchi for too long. Ryoko, was much the same way as Ayeka; especially if it appeared that she was monopolizing Tenchi's attention. Lastly, there was the diminutive Washu. A person Kiyone had barely seen since the day she arrived. Though one of the few times was when Washu insisted on giving her a full checkup, "for future reference."

Tenchi, however, was even more a mystery to her than any other. He was always very nice, polite and dignified to her. She still couldn't see, however, just what was in the young man to make a princess and a pirate to fall in love, another princess and a detective to have a crush, and a scientist to make a special guinea pig.

Kiyone sighed and once again looked across the pool towards the young man. He was kind of cute, if you considered his age, but looks were definitely not enough to cause five women to feel the way they do about this boy. What was it about this young earthling, then, that made him so endearing towards the residents that lived here?

At that moment, a thought occurred to Kiyone. She was here with Tenchi, alone and with no good reason why it shouldn't remain that way. Why not then get to know him better? Curiosity was a natural trait to Kiyone, especially when something seemed to disagree with its outward appearance and Tenchi Masaki certainly appeared to be a dichotomy.

"Tenchi? Can I ask you a few questions?" Kiyone asked of the soaking young man. At first, it appeared as if he hadn't heard her. However, after a few seconds, he rose to sitting position with a friendly, if reserved, expression on his face.

"Umm, sure. What can I do for you Ms. Kiyone?" he asked.

Kiyone cringed slightly in distaste. "You can start by not calling me 'Ms.', Tenchi. To you, I'm Kiyone, it's as simple as that." She smiled warmly, trying to take any unintended sting from her words.

Tenchi responded to her smile with a small blush. 

"Oh, uh, sorry about that." He said shyly.

"It's no problem," Kiyone responded, then sat back against the wall of the bathing pool.

"Have you always lived here, at this shrine I mean?" Kiyone suddenly asked, after several seconds of silence.

"Huh?" Tenchi started, forgetting for a few moments that Kiyone wanted to ask him a few questions. Once he remembered, however, the same friendly smile returned to his face as he remembered the events that led his entire house to be relocated to the foot of his Grandfather's shrine.

"No, actually. This house used to be in the city. My father and I lived there until about two summers ago."

Kiyone blinked in confusion, trying to process what Tenchi had said.

"You said your house used to be there to? So you moved it out here on purpose?" 

To Kiyone, that sounded slightly silly. Tenchi still went to school in the city that was nearest the shrine. His father, as well, still worked there, choosing only to spend the weekends actually living in the Masaki home. The rest of the week was spent in a small apartment, closer to his job.

"Not quite." Tenchi answered cryptically. "We really didn't have a choice in the matter."

This statement further puzzled the teal haired woman. How could anyone **not** have a say in the moving of an entire household? If she wasn't mistaken, none of the women were here when they had moved out here so it wasn't as if they had done it. Or had they?

"Then how did your house end up here?" Kiyone asked, curious as a cat. This story, for some reason, just kept getting more and more strange.

Tenchi answered with just a simple word. A name, in fact, as if it were the sum of any more elaborate explanation he could come up with.

"Ryoko." He stated flatly. Though he knew it was not singly the pirate's fault as it was the time that Ayeka first appeared. The demoness **had** been the one that shrunk the house and brought it with her on her flight to outer space. Tenchi had always found it ironically funny that each of the girls, barring Kiyone, appeared at the same time as or immediately following some form of destruction. That fact made the young man slightly nervous about Kiyone's appearance, so far though, no destruction had followed the former detectives arrival.

"I see." Kiyone, responded, though not really understanding it. "Is it okay if I ask you to tell me the story? It sounds rather interesting."

"I guess not." Tenchi responded hesitantly. He still wasn't really sure about Kiyone, or about how much he should tell her. She was a member of the Galaxy Police after all, and he thought Mihoshi had submitted a report, so Kiyone should know most of it up to Kagato, anyway.

_Maybe she just wants to hear it from me,_ Tenchi thought, privately enjoying the concept of talking to Kiyone without having to worry about any of the girls interfering. They sometimes had the habit of changing the story to suit their own impressions.

"Well, it all started the day I opened the cave and let Ryoko out..." Tenchi began. In time, he related all of the events that led up to the day Kiyone appeared. It was a rather lengthy story, but Kiyone was simply fascinated by it. By the end, she even found herself vaguely seeing what had Mihoshi, Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, and Washu so enamoured. Despite his simple appearance, Tenchi was an amazing young man.

"...then you appeared and well, I guess you know the rest." Tenchi finished and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had ever related the entire story to someone. Those whom he lived with, already knew most of it, so all he had to do was fill in certain areas, and none of his friends on earth would ever believe this story. Thinking about it, Tenchi rather felt better about the whole ordeal now that he told someone, some parts had been starting to bother him as of late.

Kiyone sighed softly. It was really a strange tale, one that she would have been hard pressed to believe had it not fit every detail so perfectly. Not to mention Mihoshi's entrance was a classic landing from the blonde police detective. Then something just occurred to Kiyone. Tenchi had mentioned several times the affections lavished upon him by the others, especially Ryoko and Ayeka. Yet he had never mentioned his own feelings on the matter. In fact, he had been rather quiet about the whole subject matter as a whole.

One look towards the boy, however, decided Kiyone against asking about that. It was quite easy to see he was of two very different minds about the subject. Perhaps later, she could talk to him about it, but now would not be the time. With that done, the teal haired women looked at her hands and sighed disgustedly.

Upon the disgusted noise Kiyone had made, Tenchi looked over towards the newest resident and saw her staring at her hands with a very distasteful look on her face.

"What's the matter Kiyone?" He asked, wondering what could have the placid woman's face so disgusted.

Kiyone looked up from her hands, her facial expression changing to a slightly guilty smile.

"I guess we spent too much time in the hot water." She said simply and held up her hands for the curious Tenchi to see.

Tenchi scrutinized the creamy white hands that Kiyone held before him and chuckled slightly. Her hands had been reduced to the texture of raisins. A quick check of his own and Tenchi was bale to determine that indeed his own skin had followed the path of Kiyone's and protested the lengthy stay in the warm waters.

"I guess we should be getting out, then." Tenchi replied, slightly amused. "Dinner will be ready shortly anyway."

"Does Sasami **always** cook so wonderfully?" Kiyone asked as she removed herself from the waters and headed for a covered changing area.

"Every single time." Tenchi replied dead pan. Sasami was easily the best cook he had ever had the privilege of knowing. The little girl was a culinary master and was always determined to outdo herself at every meal. It was any wonder why no one gained weight in the Masaki household.

Just as the Kiyone was leaving, Tenchi smiled warmly at her.

"Thanks for listening, Kiyone." He said simply as the teal tressed woman exited and Tenchi took his turn in the changing room.

Kiyone returned the smile and replied simply that it wasn't a problem. Then she exited the bath, making her way to the house with a little lighter step than she had entered, thinking the short walk over that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad vacation after all.

** *

A painful scream echoed within the darkness, then died moments later. Through the murky depths of the smoky nothingness a light emanated from single point. The closer one got to the point, the light separated into two distinct figures and a stream of power in between them. Closer still, and the figure on the right was revealed to be a beautiful female with long golden brown hair and a flowing white robe. Directly in front of her stood a younger male, gritting his teeth in concentration, using everything within his possession to hold the defensive stance he was crouched into.

Urchoíd's muscle's screamed in agony as he held the stance, determined to not let the power stream move him one more centimeter. Before the young Cephean, three purplish-black wings of power rotated slowly, keeping most of the energy from hitting his vulnerable body. Once making contact with the wings, the power that Lady Tokimi was focusing in his direction dissipated immediately only leaving the physical force of impact. The force itself, however, was more than enough to harm anyone should they get in the way.

Seconds later, Tokimi switched tactics, immediately cutting the thick stream. In its stead, she began sending small, deadly purple points of light towards the Urchoíd. Each of these points was quickly and efficiently cut off by the rotating shield before the young man. The defense from such tactics having long since relegated to the subconscious mind.

Lady Tokimi slowly allowed a proud smile to drift across her face. Her chosen had come such a long way in the week that she had been training him. He had already formed three Holy Wings, which was more than enough to shield him from anything that could be fired at the boy. Urchoíd had preformed everything that could possibly have been asked of him with surprising speed. Not only was the Cephean, deadly, but he was cunning as well, an excellent trait to have in Tokimi's opinion.

Only one weakness could still be determined, as far as Tokimi was concerned, and that was the boy still had not mastered material conversion. In light of that fact, Urchoíd still had to rely upon the constructed light sword when doing anything offensive. The Cepheans made superior weapons in all respects, but they could never match the power output of a Light Hawk Sword. Nor would Urchoíd be able to defend himself from the weapon until he mastered the art himself.

Tokimi sighed. It was such a pity, really. She had never been able to figure out just what her sister had done to the Trees of Jurai in order to give them the power of Light Hawk Wings. She had tried many times with multiple failures to obtain such information, the latest being the renegade scientist, Kagato.

Kagato had been an easy target to manipulate because everything she had needed had been right there from the start. The man was already power mad and working frantically to obtain the Tsunami unit itself. He had even managed to duplicate the power output of Washu's gems, no small feat in the least. All it took was a slight will implanted into his mind and the scientist formulated the plan of laying siege the very planet of Jurai itself.

There was one thing, however, that Tokimi despised about the scientist. He had imprisoned her sister. Though she had not been able to determine how he had done such a thing because of Washu's powers as a goddess, but it was at the very least apparent that her pink haired sibling did not bring them to bear against the man. Which only further confused Tokimi. 

Once again, Lady Tokimi brought her concentration upon the boy in front of her. It was almost time for Urchoíd to reach the next level of development. He had been able to gain such wondrous control of the three wings he already could call forth. His next and final form should be that of the five wings and full material conversion. Slowly she gathered her power for one mighty strike, one that should call forth the Cepehean's final and most powerful form, one that would truly make him her Champion.

Urchoíd watched his Lady and master carefully. He had caught the moment hesitation after the point attack and knew what came next. Lady Tokimi would repeatedly raise the intensity level of her power to try and draw even more from him. So Far, after each time she had raised the intensity, he had gained an additional Holy Wing. Though this time, Urchoíd thought that he really wasn't ready for the power. Still, his lady had never guessed wrong before so with this deep-rooted trust, he deepened his stance against his protesting muscles and held on with every ounce of strength he possessed. 

Moments later, the blast was unleashed and Urchoíd reeled from the physical impact. It felt as if Tokimi was bringing to bear the entirety of her power and focusing it on a single target: him. Still he held on and gritted his teeth harder, making his lower jaw slip and bite into his tongue. The taste of blood in Urchoíd's mouth was the added incentive to make him hold on just a bit longer.

Soon he could no longer hold in the scream of pain as he felt the energy within him focus upon two points of his body and begin shifting outward. Urchoíd could barely feel the raw power swim through his veins as it traversed his body and finally stopped near the top of his thighs. There the energy pushed itself outward through his skin. In seconds the sensation had ended and the force upon Urchoíd's body all but stopped.

Slowly, Urchoíd opened his eyes, and gazed upon the grimly smiling image of his Lady. Looking down upon himself, he was shocked to discover that he not only had three wings but five! They were arranged in an orchid pattern about him and had stopped their rotation cold. The three full sized wings that he had held previously were now arranged at his two shoulder blades and head respectively. The two newer Holy Wings were roughly half the size of the original three and guarded Urchoíd's legs, stretching diagonally from his lower hip.

Curiously, Urchoíd reached his hands forward and reverently touched the wings before him. He was the first Cephean to produce any more than one Holy wing, and he had now in his possession five. Slowly the knowledge of what this could possibly do settled over the young Cephean. He could conceivably walk into the very throne room itself and kill the king and nobody would be able to stop him. He was now the most powerful being in the known Galaxy, and that fact scared him for a second. The most powerful tended to be the most sought after target. Urchoíd tended to like quiet observation and strategy over brute strength.

Idly, his finger accidentally pressed against the right shoulder wing and Urchoíd jumped back from the shock. The two shoulder wings began pressing in on him, transforming his arms as they went. Slowly they began to cover his entire body, changing the simplicity of his practice clothing with an elaborate fighting costume. When the two wings had completed their journey, Urchoíd once again took a look at his appearance.

Amazingly, his clothing had not changed much. The pants had been changed, loosely fitting the forms of his wiry legs to the color of the deepest ebony. Urchoíd's tunic was also changed, but not by much. Once again they had been changed in color and fabric to a loosely fitting shirt of a dark black with silver trim. The young Cephean immediately recognized the cut of his new clothing as a practical version of the Space Fleets' formal uniform.

Slowly, Urchoíd's gaze shifted back to Lady Tokimi, who had been standing in front of him the whole time. She gazed upon her Champion with a proud smile across her face. It had been a long time since the last time someone had worn the uniform of Tokimi's champion, not since the last cycle, in fact as only one champion was ever allowed per cycle, as the rules stated.

"What am I?" Urchoíd whispered the question towards Tokimi, too tired to even speak normally.

"You, Urchoíd Dorchacht, are now truly my champion." Tokimi answered back, pride and joy reflecting in her voice. Urchoíd could also swear that just at the end he could even hear a bit of sadness in her voice, but could wonder at it.

** *

"Wow! That was great Sasami!" Tenchi said as he laid down his chopsticks. True to his statement to Kiyone, the little Princess had once again cooked a wonderful meal for the entire Masaki clan. He often couldn't figure out why she loved to do such a thing, as there was certainly enough people in this household now that could cook quite passably. But Sasami had always insisted that the kitchen was her domain, and one that she wanted and loved to keep.

"Thanks, Tenchi." Sasami blushed and looked down towards the floor. She loved it when Tenchi complimented her efforts, and no matter how much he did so, it never got old. Then, the little girl looked over towards the newest member of the household, Kiyone.

"What did you think of the meal, Kiyone? Was it okay?" Sasami asked, wanting to get a feeling for the special foods that Kiyone liked. She had been experimenting with many varieties since the police detective had arrived, trying to find the right combination to please the elder woman's palette.

"It was wonderful Sasami." Kiyone smiled at the girl. It shouldn't be possible for one so young to be able to cook so well; much less a princess, but Sasami somehow managed to turn anything into a gourmet meal. "It was spicy, just the way I like it." Kiyone added further, making the blushing Sasami positively radiant with joy.

"I'm glad you liked it." Sasami finally said and smiled shyly as the rest of the family complimented her on the meal.

Ayeka looked at her sister a few seconds longer than the usually compliments called for, however. Lately it seemed as if there was something wrong with the little girl. Sasami just wasn't quite as bubbly as she had been when they had first arrived, and the quick glance told Ayeka that her little sister was still feeling bad from this morning.

Ayeka fully understood what her sister was going through. It had been centuries since they had been under Juraian skies, and despite her happiness at where she was, there was still an underlying current of homesickness creeping upon the elder Juraian princess. Ayeka sighed; she understood what Sasami was going through all to well. Looking at her little sister once again, though, she swallowed the melancholy that threatened to overwhelm her senses and determined to be brave for Sasami at least. 

Once the table was cleared, Ayeka found Sasami still seated at the table, staring at nothing in particular. A worried Ryo-Ohki sat on the table directly in front of the little girl. When Ayeka approached the half cat half rabbit turned her head and regarded the elder Juraian. Apparently, Sasami's unhappiness this morning had grown. Ayeka had never seen her little sister in such a glum mood, especially following such glowing compliments on her cooking.

"Sasami?" Ayeka approached her little sister carefully.

The younger princess looked up and regarded Ayeka with eyes that nearly broke her sister's heart. Sasami's once vibrant pink eyes had turned dull, and the smile that was always present showed no trace of its existence. Immediately, Ayeka's eyes softened and she rushed towards her little sister with her arms wide open. 

"I miss my mommy," Sasami, whispered softly into Ayeka's arms, the second the young girl was safely in her older sisters arms.

"I know, I do too, Sasami." Ayeka cooed softly, rocking back and forth slightly, trying every trick she knew to calm her sister down. "Why did you let it get this far? You should have something, I would have listened." 

Sasami regarded her older sister thoughtfully, then laid her head against Ayeka's chest.

"I didn't want to spoil your fun. I know you love it here. I do as well, it's the most fun I've had in my life. But I can't remember what it was like on Jurai anymore. I don't remember what my room was like, or how the city looked during Startika. I can't remember anything."

Ayeka continued to hold the now silently crying Sasami and considered what the little princess had just said. It was true; it had been a very long time since both of them had been home. Here with Tenchi, however, Ayeka could almost forget about going back and be happy about it. Almost, but not quite.

The elder princess sighed sadly. It was time to make a decision that was long in the making. She always knew it would be inevitable, from the moment she had first arrived on this planet, but that didn't make the decision anymore difficult than it already was.

At that moment, Tenchi walked into the room and saw Ayeka holding Sasami. 

"Is everything okay?" he asked quietly, coming up next to the two and sitting himself beside Ayeka. "Sasami seemed fine only a minute ago." Tenchi allowed the worry to be heard plainly in his voice. Sasami was the brightest of his extended family, to see her go through such a drastic change in temperment was unnerving, to say the least.

Watching Ayeka's face suddenly made Tenchi feel like something bad was about to happen, something he wouldn't like. The purple haired princess was stroking Sasami's water blue hair gently and looking far away into the distance with a sad look in her eyes.

Slowly, Ayeka looked over towards Tenchi and gazed at him. She really tried to put everything she felt about the young earthling in that single gaze, as she could never speak about her feelings. She also tried to silently make him understand why she was making the choice she had to make. 

With the object of her affections blinking at her in confusion, Ayeka slowly spoke. The Princess's voice rose just barely above a whisper as she slowly said the words she'd never thought she'd hear herself say.

"T-Tenchi...Sasami and I are going back home, to Jurai."

** *

Urchoíd looked up suddenly at the sounds of movement next to him, but did not register if it was indeed another being or just a figment of his imagination. He had been sitting in the small chamber that had been given to him since he had arrived for almost two hours after the last session with Lady Tokimi. Somehow, what his Goddess had said at the end trouble him greatly.

__

Champion? What does she mean by that? He thought to himself, curiously. Urchoíd already knew that the Lady had special plans for him, but as of yet she had been reticent in telling him anything.

__

What would be required of me? Will I be able to complete here tasks? Over and over again the circle of doubt began to creep up on the young Cephean. Urchoíd knew his fighting abilities were unmatched among his age, he knew he had been trained by the best and brightest teachers that lived, but would it all be enough, and what **was** Lady Tokimi's designs for him anyway?

"Something troubling you, perhaps?" A voice sounded from right next to Urchoíd, making the young man jump back. He had no reason to worry, however, because a split second later his ears recognized the tone of the old High Priest, Sagart.

Sagart chuckled dryly at the young man's initial reaction. He had been told once that he had had the unnerving habit of appearing as if from nowhere. It seemed, to his kind elderly eyes, that he hadn't lost his touch.

"I have not seen you for several days, my young friend. I thought that something might be troubling you." Sagart explained, smiling the genuine friendly smile that always seemed to put anyone at ease. "Would you care to take a walk?"

Urchoíd nodded silently, and followed the elder man out the door. Over the past two weeks he had been here, the young man had grown accustomed to Sagart appearing at the oddest of times. Generally, the old priest would ask a few questions, invite him to one of the many gardens of the temple, or simply walk with the younger man. Sagart, in fact, had become almost a grandfather to Urchoíd; the old priest was always around to lend an ear or to just talk about nothing.

Silently the two walked for a distance, Urchoíd unsure about how to start the conversation, and Sagart patiently waiting for the boy to begin. Finally, after several more minutes of silent walking, the young Cephean just blurted out what the trouble was.

"What does the Lady mean by Champion? What am I expected to do?" he asked quickly, making sure to keep his eyes glued to the ground, lest he show disrespect towards the High Priest.

Sagart chuckled again.

"So, I assume you have reached the pinnacle of your power, then?" he asked questioningly. He already knew the answer of course, because Lady Tokimi would never reveal that bit of information if he hadn't.

"Have I?" Urchoíd asked.

Sagart sighed. Lady Tokimi really needed to work on explaining things. The Goddess often ended up getting too caught up in the moment, leaving major chunks of information out. This had caused several other High Priests to have breakdowns when certain events had happened and they had not been prepared for it.

"I think you should sit, down, young one. We have much to discuss." Sagart indicated the bench that the pair had stopped in front of. The surroundings were almost mythological to Urchoíd as he sat upon the padded bench. The Garden in which he and Sagart were now sitting in was lush and green, a direct opposite of the drab brown interior of the temple. Somehow, a beam of brilliant sunlight shown down from somewhere above and illuminated the medium sized room pleasantly, but there was no sky as far as Urchoíd could see. Off in the distance, towards the opposite end of the garden, the young man could even hear a small waterfall cheerfully gurgling, feeding the little stream that ran right in front of the bench.

"Tell, me Urchoíd, exactly how much has our Lady told you?" Sagart began quietly, looking directly at the young man beside him.

"I am her champion," Urchoíd answered back. He understood as much, at least, to regurgitate the information back to others, however confusing it was. When his Lady first asked him to become her student, he had not thought much of what exactly it entailed. Now, knowing that he was Her champion somehow added more responsibility to the position. It also gave the distinct impression of being religious in nature. Urchoíd wasn't entirely sure he was right for a religious war, if indeed that's what she meant by it.

"Does she mean that I will spread our faith in Her throughout the stars, Father?" Urchoíd asked, voicing at least one of his concerns.

Sagart shook his head. "No, young one. There is so much that you do not currently understand. I will try my best to explain the way things are in the universe, but somethingd you will have to learn yourself, sadly."

Father Sagart took a deep raspy breath and began a story that was known to him his entire life. Not to mention one, as the High Priest of all Cepheus, that he had a responsibility to tell.

"Millions of years ago, there was The One. He began the Universe as we know, gave it life from the void that was before. He created the galaxies and the stars themselves. Once the laws were set down, He created three daughters. These three children of The One are rulers over all in their respective dimensions. After the creation of His daughters The One simply disappeared, left the universe to it's own devices and the will of his children."

"But who are these children? Are one of them Lady Tokimi?" Urchoíd interrupted, the impetuousness of his youthful seventeen years beginning to show through.

"Hush, child. I am getting to that." Sagart chided gently then continued with his story.

"Now, as you asked, yes Lady Tokimi is the one of His Daughters. She rules over the higher dimensions of reality. Her domain is that which is beyond our thinking. It is said she can even control time itself, though I have yet to see if this rumor is true or not." Sagart sighed. There were many things in which his Lady had not shown him yet. He was reaching the end of his lifetime as well. Soon he would know nothing but darkness until the next High Priest was chosen.

The other two daughters, father. What of them?" Urchoíd brought Sagart back to the present with his breathless question. Sagart chuckled at the youth beside him; it was really quite strange to see the aloof and confident Urchoíd Dorchacht acting his age.

"The other two are Ladies Washu and Tsunami." Sagart answered after a brief pause. He had once met lady Tsunami, long ago. She had been quite beautiful in her physical form with a gentleness that seemed to be absent from his own Goddess. 

"Lady Tsunami is in charge of the physical world as you and I know it. Her domain is this very third dimension." Sagart continued, trying to push the thoughts of his last encounter with Tsunami out of his mind. "She, like Tokimi has a people in which she has invested interest in. They are known as the Jurai, and live many, many light years from this planet. In fact, most people do not even know they exist."

"The third daughter is a bridge between the dimensions. She lives within the physical, but can perceive the higher dimensions of time. She has taken no vested interest in a single race, but rather acts as a mediary between several different dimensional beings."

Urchoíd sat silent for several moments, trying to process the information that the High Priest just told him.

__

Three Goddesses of equal power and strength? Urchoíd thought wondrously_. But what has this got to do with my being a champion for Lady Tokimi's cause?_

As if reading his mind, Sagart continued his story once again. 

As each sister is a Goddess, they control power beyond imagination. However, quantitatively speaking, each Goddess can form and control Ten Holy Wings. But because they are not considered a part of this dimension, it is impossible for these wings to have any effect unless they take physical form. This is where the champions come in."

Urchoíd leaned in closer to the old man and listened intently. This was something that he did **not** want to miss.

"You see, each Goddess can have a portion of their power incarnated within the physical universe. This power is often controlled by a single person whom the Goddess feels best serves their purpose. These persons or "champions" as they have begun to be known as, can control approximately half of their Patron's power. In our terms, five Holy Wings are theirs to control."

Urchoíd sat back against the comfortable backrest and considered what he had just been told. He controlled the most power within the entire world, yet he still had **no** idea what he was supposed to do with it. Was he supposed to conquer in Her name? Ws he supposed to fight these other champions or was he supposed to join with them?

"Father," the young man began nervously, somehow always feeling like a silly schoolboy who asks too many questions in front of the wizened old man. "What am I supposed to **do** with this power that She gave me?" he asked.

Sagart considered the young man carefully before answering; he wasn't quite ready for the full story. Besides, that was one in which only the Lady herself could fully explain.

"That, young Urchoíd, is a longer story for another time. For now, do as you're bid. Lady Tokimi's will is above all else in our lives."

"Yes, Father, I understand." Urchoíd bowed respectfully, suddenly back to the young adult version of his personality. "Thank you for talking with me, as I know how busy your schedule must be." With a final bow at the end of his statement, Urchoíd turned on his heels and began to walk back to his room, a head full of even more things to think about.

Sagart chuckled and watched the retreating back of the young man carefully.

"Do you think he will be alright?" A feminine voice rang from the air around the old priest only seconds before the image of Lady Tokimi appeared before him.

Long used to the Lady's habits, Sagart didn't even bat an eyelash as he replied.

"I think he will be more than okay, Lady. He will be ready soon, I think. Do you still wish to do this?" Sagart turned to the woman who had been in his life since the moment the last Priest died. She had become such a part of him that it broke his old heart to know that soon he would never again feel the warmth in his heart that she gave him.

Lady Tokimi sighed sadly, and closed her eyes.

"It must be so, my faithful friend. That is the way of the Cycle in which He set before us. It must be done." With that, Lady Tokimi disappeared, presumably back to her own dimension. It cost her greatly in strength to appear in her ethereal form as a part of the physical dimension.

High Priest Sagart once again returned to the padded bench and sat down. There was much to think about these days, and much to consider of the future. Silently he sighed, and sent a quick expression of his love and devotion for his Lady before standing up once again and walking towards his chambers. There will be long and painful times ahead of them if everything goes like it was supposed to.

** *

"What do you mean, 'Going back to Jurai,'" Tenchi asked, greatly alarmed. It just did not make sense that the Princess wished to return home, and Tenchi, for as much as he tried, could not understand what Ayeka was saying.

_Was she not happy here? _The young man asked himself frantically as Ayeka again tried to explain why she was leaving. _I didn't think she was, but then she never really did show her feelings too well._

"Please try to understand Tenchi, we're not doing this because we are unhappy here. Sasami and I have been away from home for far too long; we need to go back. I hope you can understand this." Ayeka pleaded, almost to the point of tears, as she was trying to explain the situation to her beloved.

Tenchi sighed, and nodded his head dumbly. Ayeka was going home. He may never see her or Sasami around ever again, or if he was really lucky, he might be able to see them once every blue moon. A princess just didn't have time to visit a backwater farmer, no matter how he was connected to the Royal family.

"Will you ever be coming back?" Tenchi asked slowly, hoping beyond hope that the answer was yes. It just wouldn't be the same without the two princesses here.

"Yes, I will be returning, Tenchi." Ayeka smiled. It strengthened her resolve greatly knowing that she would, at least, be returning. Though her father may try and forbid it, she knew that he would eventually allow it. Emperor Asuza loved his children too greatly to make them unhappy from an action he did.

"When?" Was Tenchi's next question. He couldn't quite figure out why it was bothering so much that the Princesses were leaving, but it did and greatly so. However, at the opposite end of the stick he understood how both Sasami and Ayeka felt. He, too, would have been very homesick had the situation been reversed.

Ayeka considered the question for a few moments before answering. It wouldn't do to give an incorrect time, but she did not even know how long it would be.

"I do not know, Tenchi," Ayeka answered truthfully. "Long enough, I suppose so that Sasami and I feel that we have done our duty to the people of Jurai. It has been over seven hundred years since they last saw us, after all."

Tenchi smiled gratefully. It gave him a much better feeling that he at least knew Ayeka and Sasami would be returning.

At that moment, Sasami ran up to him and gave him the best hug she could, considering her height.

"Don't worry, Tenchi," she told him quietly. "We will be back before you even notice we're gone." Then the little Princess smiled with mischief, the evidence of her earlier tears not quite gone completely. "Try not to let Ryoko cook while I'm gone, okay Tenchi? I don't want anybody to get sick."

Tenchi laughed and hugged Sasami back.

"I will try not to, Sasami. We will miss both of you very much." He said, after straightening up.

Ayeka smiled at the comment.

"You sound as if we're leaving immediately, Tenchi." She said through her smile. "In truth we will not be leaving until I can at least get a hold of Mother and wait for an escort. You forget, since Ryu-oh is still growing, we have no way of going home without Jurai's assistance."

Tenchi stopped and considered that for a second. He had forgotten all about that!

"When will you tell the others?"

"We'll do that tomorrow, at breakfast." Ayeka responded.

"Okay," Tenchi sighed. It was still going to be lonely without the princesses here. But he still had a few days at least, and they will be coming back. So he put on his best polite smile and wished Ayeka and Sasami goodnight, then returned to his own room.

Once he was ready for bed, Tenchi silently slid under the covers of his blanket and stared at the ceiling. Sleep seemed to avoid the young earthling, though, as he thought about all that had happened today, and what it meant. First, the weird instance at this mornings practice with his Grandfather, then his discussion with Kiyone, and now finally, Ayeka and Sasami deciding to return to Jurai.

_Ayeka will be gone. _Tenchi through silently. Though it troubled the young man greatly that the princess was leaving, he couldn't identify why. Certainly he knew this day had to come sometime. The Princesses had a duty to their planet and could not be expected to stay on some out of the way planet indefinitely.

_Still, _Tenchi continued on his thread, _I had admittedly gotten used to her being around. I wonder what it will be like without her?_

That thought made Tenchi start. What **would** it be like with Ayeka not around? Well for one thing, She and Ryoko wouldn't be fighting so much, which was a good thing. Tenchi smiled suddenly. As strange as it sounded, he had even grown used to quarreling pair it was definitely going to be a little bit quieter.

Tenchi also knew for certain that it would be different without Sasami as well. The little princess had taken over every aspect of the kitchen and fixed all of the family meals. She had gotten really good at it as well, as the meals had slowly been growing in quality over the last year to one of a chef. Sasami genuinely enjoyed the cooking, he knew, as she would almost never let any one else in the family attempt it, though she would often take helpers of one of the older women.

Tenchi sighed, and closed his eyes, trying to force the inevitability of the situation out of his mind. Either way, the decision was made and there was nothing he could do to stop it, even if wanted to. Ayeka and Sasami deserved to go back home whenever they wanted, especially missing it as much as they did. Though as Tenchi's mind slowly drifted into sleep, he couldn't help but wonder at one last thing: the suddenness of it all. Why did it have the feeling of being prearranged?

Though before he could think about it any further, his mind began to wander the paths of his dreams, forgetting about the thought within the pleasures of a bathing suit clad Ayeka, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Ryoko giving him a massage.

** *

The morning began slowly for Tenchi as he began to drag himself out of his nice warm bed. It had been a very interesting night, and the young man was very reluctant to leave the images that had paraded through his mind throughout his restful sleep. Then the full impact of what the morning heralded, brought Tenchi fully awake.

Today Ayeka and Sasami would be leaving. It had been several days after Ayeka had made her announcement at the breakfast table, and now it was time for them to leave. The Juraian escort would be arriving shortly to accompany the Princesses back home, though the two girls would not be riding personally with the royal escort.

That brought Tenchi to the next surprise that had happened within the last few days. Kiyone had volunteered to bring them to Jurai herself in her own ship, the Yagami. This sort of caught everyone off guard, as Kiyone had been expected to stay at least a few weeks, though Mihoshi took it the hardest. She had been really looking forward to all the things that the pair could do.

Tenchi sighed; it was really a shame that Kiyone was leaving, too. He genuinely liked the teal haired woman, as she was quite easy to talk to. In fact, after their initial meeting in the bath, he and Kiyone had met each other often by accident and spent a few minutes chatting.

Kiyone, however, also promised that she would return, but as she had explained when she volunteered, she needed to feel needed again. There was also the fact that the Yagami was just about the safest vessel that Ayeka and Sasami could be on besides a royal spaceship tree.

A familiar deep rumble began to stir up the birds and shake the trees as two ships appeared in the sky beside the now visible Yagami. The entire family had turned out to wish the Princess well including Ryoko, who made no effort to hide her excitement that the Ayeka was leaving.

The demoness had been waiting for this day since for a very long time. The day that Ayeka would be gone and she could finally have Tenchi all to herself. 

_Or at least, _she thought taking a look at the remaining women with a slight smile, _mostly to myself._

Ryoko knew that neither Washu nor Mihoshi was likely to put up as much of a fight as Ayeka did when she got a little close to Tenchi. If given enough time, and without the added interruption from Ayeka, the space pirate was sure that Tenchi would eventually come around to her affections. After all, she did love him, didn't she? It was only fair that if someone loved another that they should show it as much as possible and have that love returned.

Ryoko spared a glance at the departing princess one more time to see the princess's eyes staring directly at her. The demoness threw a cocky grin at the look Ayeka gave her, but then frowned moment later. Despite that fact that she was overjoyed that Ayeka was leaving, she couldn't help but wonder why. The look that Ayeka threw her way definitely warned her to keep her hands of Tenchi while she was gone.

Ryoko sighed; it was a severe oversight on the part of herself to discount the princess. She knew that the purple haired woman cared for Tenchi just as much as she did. Which made her leaving all the more stranger. Sure, Sasami was homesick and even Ayeka to some extent, but until a few days ago Ryoko had never seen Sasami express nothing but happiness at the current living situation. 

_Why then, would she suddenly start showing it now? _Ryoko wondered. The little princess was by no stretch of the imagination secretive. In fact, Sasami tended to show her emotions even more than any other person in the household, despite the one incident involving Tsunami. So while Ayeka said her goodbye to everyone that was present, and Kiyone made her rounds as well, Ryoko thought about the matter.

Something just didn't add up somewhere. But as far as she could tell, Ryoko could not detect any other presence or force. If she couldn't detect it, then certainly her mother could; so far the diminutive figure of Washu had been silent. Eventually, however, Ryoko gave up trying to figure the princess out. It was much more fun to enjoy the fact that she would be able to finally get some good quality time with Tenchi.

With all the hugs and waves taken care of, Tenchi and the others watched silently as Ayeka and Sasami entered the Yagami then watched the port closed. Only moments later, the engines came to life and the huge ship began to lift off the ground slowly then execute a turn to insinuate itself between the escorts. Seconds later, the three ships were gone, leaving Tenchi to stare up at the sky for a few moments and wonder when he would see the pair again.

Finally, after a few eternal minutes, the young man sighed and began to return to the house. Trying to not think about the fact that one room was now empty and he didn't know when it would be occupied again.

__

Come back soon, Tenchi aimed his thoughts to the now departed spaceship then disappeared inside the house.

****

END

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Author's endnotes: Well, here's the second part of my latest fic, Infinite Wills. I hope you enjoyed this part as much as possible, though I still am kind of shaky about the ending of it. Either way, that's what final drafts are for, right? Please let me know how you like this installment via e-mail at [_garasu@omicronceti.com_][1]_ or by leaving a nice review. Thanks, Garasu. _

   [1]: mailto:garasu@omicronceti.com



	3. Images of a Broken Past

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Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV continuity of Tenchi Muyo! All copyrighted characters mentioned within this work are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer. Original characters are intellectual property of Garasu; intentional use without permission is bad manners.

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Infinite Wills

Part 3: Images of a Broken Past

Author: Garasu

Deep within the bowels of a multi-dimensional lab that also managed to span a few good sized planets; a lone figure was silently staring at a small tank holding only water and a few brightly colored fish. Just as silent as their watcher, the small aquarian creatures swam in circles and loops, passing from one corner of the small aquarium to the other in a matter of seconds. Slowly, the young woman lifted an arm and rubber her chin thoughtfully. Her huge mane of bright pink hair swaying slightly from the wind that the size of the lab generated, as Washu, the creator of everything before her, contemplated the recent events of the day.

As Ryoko had impressed upon earlier, it was quite a strange turn of events that broke the Masaki family apart, albeit for a short while. As the person who ran thorough tests on each and every household member she could convince to enter her lab, Washu was quite aware of each and every emotion that the guests were feeling. So why then was Sasami's and Ayeka's homesickness a surprise to her? There, of course was the evidence that the two princesses had neither given much thought towards home, nor felt sadness until just a few days ago. Not even when their parents visited and subsequently allowed the pair to stay.

Washu hated mysteries. The unknown was one of her only fears, and also one of the main reasons she loved science so. There was something just so deeply satisfying about solving a mystery, knowing things that others could only dream about, or barely comprehend. Knowledge was the diminutive scientist's only passion, both the collection and dissertation of it. Yet somehow a mystery had crept itself upon the Misaki household without her knowing about it. Never before had an event happened so close to her without even the slightest bit of fore knowledge. This bothered Washu to no end, and bid the scientist to come to one of the furthest corners of her lab to think and wonder.

__

Could these events possibly have been instigated by someone? She wondered silently, continuing to stare at the bright fish swimming before her. Slowly a small arm reached up and swept a long pink bang away from her green eyes. Someone able to manipulate thoughts without her knowledge gave Washu only two options in her mind: the Lady Tsunami and the mysterious force behind Dr. Clay's deception. As for the former, why would such a benign force as Tsunami be behind such events as the Princesses leaving? Surely as a part of Sasami, the goddess of Jurai could the feel the love that the little girl felt towards this world, even if she could not detect the feelings Sasami had for Tenchi. There was also the love that Princess Ayeka held towards Tenchi, which should be at least radiated within the elder girl's key in turn reaching the master of all Juraian Trees. Yet go the two princesses did, and with very little indication that they would do so.

Washu sighed and closed her eyes slightly. In her opinion, it was more likely that whatever force was behind Dr. Clay was behind these events as well. However, what this force was and what its intentions were was far beyond the guess of Washu. This only unsettled the ageless woman more. Lying within the shadow of one mystery, was yet another as well. Dr. Clay had not come for a social call, she certainly knew. The misguided scientist had intended to bring her to someone, someone whom he both feared and respected. In the time that Washu had known the despicable man, she had never met anyone whom Clay had held these notions towards, for he was a selfish perfectionist; utterly convinced of his own genius and perfection. In her silent thinking, Washu spared a brief grim smile for the doctor's fate, lying inside a heavily guarded cell in one of the Galaxy Police Forces most secure holds. It would do him some good to think over his pathetic life.

That still left the mystery of the force, however, but Washu could not find any answers no matter how much she bent her will towards finding them. Only after hours of sitting by herself and thinking, staring at the blues, greens and reds of the various animals surrounding her, did a massive yawn break her thought. It had been ages since she had remembered waking up, and a quick glance at her surroundings told the pink haired scientist that it was deep within the night. Washu blinked slowly and tried to remember when exactly the sun set, for her lab was synchronized with the daylight hours of the Masaki residence on earth despite the fact that this current section was light years away from that point.

"Rats," Washu swore, "missed dinner again." Judging by the silver light that now reflected within the bowels of her lab, the moon had risen high into the nighttime sky and dinner was over long ago. However, this do not bother Washu as much because she knew that Tenchi and his family counted on her keeping strange hours and often left a couple of portions warm in the oven. With this in mind, Washu exited the small door in the side of the main staircase and bore right towards the kitchen. Once there, however, she encountered a small surprise.

Tenchi looked up from the small plate of cookies that he was currently decimating to find the diminutive pink haired scientist staring at him. He returned the stare for a few seconds them went back to staring at the plate tiredly.

"Can't sleep?" Washu asked, allowing a slight note of concern creep into her voice. She knew how hard it was for the earthling to cope with part of the family leaving so suddenly, in a way she had also thought it difficult to sleep well knowing that Ayeka, Sasami, and Kiyone were now halfway to Jurai. It was also not just at dinner times that she missed the trio.

Tenchi nodded his head silently and bite into another cookie. They had been a goodbye present from Sasami to him, and it seemed as if he didn't want to save them despite the fact that it was going to be a **long** time before he would get to eat anything more that was made by the little princess. Then suddenly remembering his manners, Tenchi glanced up and indicated that Washu should come in a share with him.

Washu accepted the invitation with a smile and hopped up onto one of the high backed chairs that surrounded the small island in the middle of the kitchen. There, she and Tenchi sat in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes before either said a word. Tenchi, it seemed to Washu, was in a brooding sort of mood. It was obvious to her that something was very much bothering the young man but she didn't quite know how to broach the subject. It was at least partly obvious that it had something to do with Ayeka leaving, but of that Washu could only be partly certain. Tenchi had always been somewhat secretive, even to one who had probed his mind before (keeping clear of anything that he didn't want anyone to know, of course).

"Do you think they'll come back quickly?" Tenchi asked so suddenly that it made Washu look up and blink, for the moment bereft of any reply. Then she smiled softly, and as encouragingly as she could. She had often acted as a mother figure to any of the younger family members, and she genuinely enjoyed the experience. Though, ironically, the one she wished to reach the most never let her in. To Ryoko, Washu could only sigh longingly, but the others at strange intervals would often find her a comforting source for advice.

"I'm sure they will, Tenchi," She replied as sincerely as she could. Deep inside, however, Washu was not so certain of the reply. It was true; the scientist knew that whatever business that would take Ayeka away from her beloved Tenchi would keep the princess for a quite some time. As for Sasami, Washu could only further guess due to the little girl's bond with the Juraian Goddess, Tsunami. There was definitely something going on, though, of that Washu could be certain. Unfortunately, the answer just kept eluding the great scientist for the moment.

Washu sighed long and softly as she bit into one of the cookies that Tenchi had proffered her. The problem that she faced now was more than just an annoyance, it had become personal. 

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes before one finally spoke again. However, when conversation was started once again, it turned to light matters. As if both Tenchi and Washu were afraid of getting more than just a little depressed by continuing to think about the travelers. There was nothing that could do at the moment, both knew that well and resented it greatly, but sit and wait for something to happen. At length, Washu finally drew in a huge yawn and looked across the table towards her companion. Tenchi was staring off into thin air blankly and idly doodling with the half cookies he still had left in his right hand.

"Well, I think I'll leave you alone to your thoughts," Washu suddenly said out of the third silence that crept over them since their meeting began. She got out of her chair so quickly that the legs screeched in protest as they were drug forcefully over the tiled floor. "I need to get back to my lab anyway," she added a second later and was soon gone with a small plate in her hand that had been mysteriously retrieved from the oven. 

Tenchi stared after the eccentric scientist for a few seconds and then shrugged. Washu had to spend more time than anybody else he knew in the presence of herself; not for the first time he wondered curiously what exactly she did while alone in the depths of that huge place. Then, as if a cold wind blew in from open windows, Tenchi shivered and decided most forcefully that he did not want to know the answer to that question. Broodingly, he brought his thoughts back to the mind-numbing stare of before and continued to count the amount of spots on the wall before him, giving no further thought towards Washu that night; it was her nature to be eccentric and this behavior everyone accepted as a fact of life.

In truth, however, Washu was doing something that Tenchi, and indeed everybody else, would be greatly interested in. Not, of course, in the deed itself, but the mere of the sheer absurdity that it held. Washu, great scientist, eccentric thinker and mother in more ways than a few to all who lived under the Misaki roof, was going to sleep. An action that, despite the fact that everyone had to have **some** rest every once in a while (even Ryoko), no one had ever seen. That and factor several incidents in which it had seemed that Washu took no rest and a healthy myth had been born. All reality considered, this just happened to be the way that Washu wanted it. She was notoriously secretive in the best of her moods, and except for the occasional delight in lecturing, she chose for her thoughts to remain off limits to all. There was safety in this measure at least, safety from the pain of getting too close only to have to lose it.

Changing for bed was a simple matter for Washu; a simple thought was all it took for her clothing to disappear and in an instant be replaced by a soft pink nightshirt with matching pants. With the same instantaneous thought, her hair was magically bound into a tight weave that would never come undone no matter how one rolled in the night. Another massive yawn split her face as she wandered seemingly in senseless pattern though always towards the goal of a large tree. 

The large tree, in which Washu now stood in front of several seconds later, was of the massive Juraian breeds. It was, of course, on of the lesser trees as the Great Trees of Jurai were never allowed to be off planet except by their own ship. But a gift was a gift, and a Juraian tree seedling given in gratitude was not one to be refused. It had become the crowning glory of her lab as the huge brown limps soared hundreds of feet into the air, its perpetual green leaves reaching ever towards the artificial light which dimmed and brightened in time to the sun. However, behind this great and beautiful tree was where Washu was going, and rounding the trunk she came to a small door half hidden in the foliage. This was the door to her bedroom, a place where only she knew existed and the only place she could turn to if things were going bad.

Inside, as bedrooms go, would not have been a surprise if those that new Washu could see it. It was decorated tastefully in her favorite color, pink, and in the center a huge bed lay seemingly on thin air. Indeed, that was what it was doing as Washu couldn't seem to sleep well on anything but. Half in a daze, the small scientist climbed into the floating haven and slipped under the soft furry covers of pink fur. Washu was asleep in an instant and so deeply that could not hear the alarms going off somewhere in the darkness of her lab.

Slowly, a ghostly image began to form at the foot of the giant bed, and then made its stealthy way towards the side closest to the sleeping form of Washu. Slowly, the image began to sharpen until the form of a beautiful woman could vaguely be made out. The ghostly woman's hair flowed around the white dress that she wore, shining golden brown in the small light. Her eyes, of amethyst beauty, glowed slightly with an ethereal light of their own as they gazed steadily towards the girl before them. Slowly a small, soft smile came to the lips of Lady Tokimi as she gazed down upon her sister. This was the first time she had visited, though she had been keeping track from afar for many a year. Sadly, the smile was wiped from her face as she glimpsed the scientist, sleeping peacefully.

"What has become of you, sister?" Tokimi asked herself, in the musical language only she knew. "Your form is so different from what I remember, only a mere girl where there once was a mighty woman, proud and strong. What could have caused this?"

Silently, Tokimi considered the form before her. As a goddess, Washu could have done so many things which the girl had obviously not in the many situations she had faced. A goddess certainly wouldn't have allowed herself to be imprisoned by the hands of Kagato, a slimy, if useful at times, higher dimensional being. What then, could have happened? Was it possible to forget? Slowly Tokimi reached out and touched Washu's forehead softly.

"Yes, I see what it is now, sister." She said again, removing her hand. "I'm sorry then to do this to you, and your daughter but the Cycle must be continued or we all shall perish. I hope, someday you shall forgive me." With the last word, Tokimi sent a single will into Washu's mind, a will that soon became a collective of wills, which developed into a single thought, which evolved into a single word: Remember. 

With her task completed, Tokimi disappeared as silently as she came, regretting every moment of her actions yet convincing herself of their necessity. Silently, she left Washu to dream, and through her dreams, remember a past long forgotten, one that lay broken within fragments of her mind, and prayed that everything come out okay.

** *

When Washu finally awoke, she was not where she remembered herself to be. Looking around, the little scientist eyed the simple laboratory skeptically. This was definitely not her lab connected to the Masaki house; for one thing the design was much simpler. Instead of variable rooms there were only several small ones. When she tried to access the secondary and tertiary labs linked to this one by subspace, Washu found the link closed. All around her there were machines of every imaginable size and shape, some sporting blinking buttons; others just appeared as a simple gray face. Accessing her portable computer, Washu also found that the interface had changed, she could definitely remember changing that little annoying crab interface ages ago. Something smelled really awful about the whole situation, yet for all the discomfiture, Washu strangely found the smaller lab familiar, as if she had been here before long ago.

"Professor? Professor Washu?" The voice startled Washu out of her thinking mode and she spun around quickly. She recognized the voice immediately, but only when the image of the young man appeared within her line of vision did it truly sink in. Kagato.

The evil scientist's form was unmistakable to Washu's mind. Though he appeared a bit younger then she last remembered seeing him; the flowing grayish-white hair, the lanky build and most of all the bright yellow eyes complete with tiny spectacles were all there. Age wasn't a problem for the Kagato that she knew, however, this one strangely seemed younger than Washu remembered. He almost had the appearance of a youth just out of his teens. The pink haired scientist blinked again towards the young man facing her, truly at a loss for words.

"Professor, are you alright?" Kagato asked, slightly concerned. This was a critical point in the experiment they were conducting, certainly not a time in which to become distracted. Kagato frowned a bit as he thought about the implications of becoming distracted. The trigger had to be activated at the precise moment the proportions of the chemicals were equal, if too early nothing would happen, if too late, though, the result would be an explosion that could easily take out this half of the lab. Kagato shivered. He liked his life a little too much to let that happen. Not to mention the perfect energy of the experiment would be wasted on a completely mundane use.

Energy, that's what Kagato truly loved. He loved anything and everything to do with power. There were so many applications and benefits of a truly efficient power source that his imagination couldn't possibly cover them all. That thought brought Kagato to another thing he had noticed about his mentor, she had in her possession three round globes that from what he understood contained almost unlimited power. Certainly, the times she had talked about them she was dead drunk (especially common after a failed experiment) but Kagato was sure that not just a little of the information was the truth. If so, his hands itched with the need to test them, to try them out and map their energy levels. Slowly, he smiled. There were just so many uses he could think of, not to mention ideas that could make him wealthy beyond all dreams.

"Yes, I'm fine," Washu added shortly, bringing her gaze back to the rising proportion levels and forcing Kagato to guiltily shake the gold coins from his eyes. Thoughts like those could get him killed. Although the experiment went fine and the trigger was activated at precisely the right moment, Washu became more and more distracted as the day progressed. Kagato would constantly hear her muttering about power ratios and gems. Could she possibly talking about the power gems he had heard her only reference in passing? Kagato leaned closer to his mentor, eager to catch any details about the three objects that almost had become his obsession.

However, no further sound did Washu mutter until the very end of the day when Kagato was just finishing up a nap before going back into the experiment room. Suddenly Washu ran into the room shouting excitedly.

"Get up, Kaggy; fetch Yakage for this as well I've got some very exciting news to share with both of you!" Kagato was so startled when Washu yelled this almost at the top of her lungs and then ran out of the room at top speed; he almost fell out of the chair he had been napping in. More curious than ever, Kagato found the eccentric young man that had just so recently come under Washu's tutelage as fast as possible. Personally, Kagato did not care much for the man; he had too much fire in him. Yakage could go on rants that would sheer the skin of even the toughest hide. Yet, by the time the pair of underlings arrived their professor was no where to be found.

"Well, I hope you brought me for something good, Kagato," Yakage muttered as the young man sat down on a lab stool. "Are you sure she said for you to bring me to this room?"

"Yes, I am." Kagato snapped, not letting a bit of his impatience being held back. He hated it when people questioned his decisions. The pair did not have to wait long in their brooding silence fortunately, as Washu came in minutes later with a big smile on her face and a small leather sack. The Gems, Kagato instantly identified, and then glanced towards his neighbor, wondering if the eccentric young scientist had recognized the import of what was in the red leather sack. Though Yakage's expression showed slight confusion at the hasty summons, and did not appear to know anything about the gems.

Washu sat down and collected herself for a brief moment, trying hard to relieve the giddiness she felt. It had taken her weeks to work out the energy equations to make this project work, and now that they were finally solved she could create the daughter that she had dreamed about more than several weeks ago. Thoughts of that dream, however, forced the pink haired scientist to pause for longer than the patience of her two students allowed for.

"Professor Washu?" Yakage interrupted quietly, "Was there something you specifically called us for?"

Kagato sniffed haughtily, he could practically see the reverence and worship that Yakage held for their diminutive mentor. The pale haired youth thought that Washu was the Goddess of everything science and that there was nothing she couldn't solve. Such reverence to Kagato was a weakness, and could easily be exploited if his mentor were of that mind. There were even rumors that the pair had spent the occasional night together, though to Kagato's mind that was nigh on an impossibility. 

"Yes, Yakage, I did call you here for a specific reason." Washu answered, allowing the smile that memories of the dreams wiped off her face to return. Her energy equations were finally solved, she could now integrate the three mysterious gems that had been with her for as long as she could remember into the life form she was about to create. These gems would make the daughter that she already named Ryoko powerful beyond all imagination, never again would one her children be taken away from her at a whim. It would take an entire army to even get near her daughter in hostility, and perhaps even then it would be a fight. Washu's smile broadened, she would finally be a part of a family again. But first things first, she needed to enlist the help of her two students to create the greatest experiment the Science Academy had ever seen.

"The reason I wanted both of you here was because I have a question to ask of you two," Washu paused, gauging the eager expressions of her students. "I wish to know if you are willing to help me create life, almost completely from scratch."

Yakage and Kagato both blinked at her uncertainly, though Kagato was the first to answer.

"Create life? Life can already be emulated by machines, why would anyone want to do that again?" He asked amazedly. "There hasn't been anything new in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence for some time, not to mention those that do control the algorithms guard them viciously."

"No, "Washu replied, shaking her head, "you misunderstood me. I said we will **create** life, a living breathing entity wholly biological in nature. However… with just a few modifications I added myself." Added the little scientist, grinning broadly.

Yakage's mouth gaped as he considered the implications of what Washu had just said. Sure, cloning had been done for centuries by now, and as Kagato mentioned machines had gotten so efficient one could almost never tell the machine from biological; but to create a whole being, not cloned, not replicated in any way. Was it even possible?

"Is it even possible, professor?" Yakage asked, voicing his inner question.

"Up until now, no." Washu answered with a sigh. "There had always been a problem beginning the process from scratch. In order to make a life form, one needed the basic female and male reproductive cells somehow bring them together and then let the process naturally occur. I, however, will not be using that method. There will be no "father" in this experiment, just an ova from myself to have the basis of a beginning."

"What **will** you be using to start this life form, Professor?" Kagato asked cynically. This entire experiment seemed slightly ludicrous to him, creating life from scratch? What was the point? Not to mention what the gems have anything to do with this new life. Kagato didn't have to wait for long to find the answer though, because Washu answered his question immediately.

"Pure energy," she said, totally serious.

Kagato balked, he hadn't expected that answer, at the same time the use for the gems hit him. Suddenly he became angry, for the first time showing his true feelings about the power he supposed the gems possessed. Kagato couldn't believe that Washu was going to use such a perfect energy source for the mundane use as powering some child that Washu wished she could have! The mere possibility was inconceivable to the brilliant scientist. Though just as quickly, Kagato suppressed the anger; feelings were a weakness, a point for exploitation they would neither serve him well nor reward him for allowing them to show.

In the moment after his brief surge of anger, though, an idea began to creep into his brain. While Washu and Yakage were going over the energy equations that Washu claimed would be solve all the supposed problems of the experiment Kagato slipped over to the recording devices and activated one of the smaller systems with a direct line of view. It was, after all, too good of an opportunity to study the raw power of the gems for him to pass up.

_Soon, I will understand the power of the gems. Such marvelous power, such beautiful objects._ He thought to himself, letting a slow smile creep to his lips, gazing at the trio of objects that had become his obsession. Washu was currently handling them gently, rolling them back and forth between her fingers as if he had done so all her life. She and Yakage had been staring silently at the final form of her energy equation for several minutes, both basking in the glory of a well solved problem.

Washu smiled brightly. It had taken her weeks to solve that damned equation, and now that it was finally done, the project that she had always dreamed of would be completed. Though the nearness of the event gave her some trepidation as well. The germination period that she predicted was vastly accelerated to that of a normal child's. Only three weeks from beginning to end, and even after those three weeks, her daughter, Ryoko, would be a full adult or at least almost adult.

"Are you ready, Yakage?" She turned to her young assistant, overjoyed to see the same eager grin echoed on the handsome man's face. It was really a shame he was so young compared to her, she had been getting so lonely as of late and would be nice to have someone to talk to, especially one who shared a lot of the same interests as her.

"Yes, Professor," Yakage replied reverently, allowing his eager expression change briefly to one of adoration.

"Are you getting this Kaggy?" Washu yelled over the shoulder, not missing the fact that her older assistant was standing near a bundle of recording equipment. She had deliberately used the nickname the young man despised to tease him. Kagato was somewhat of a recluse and anything she could do to draw the scientist out was only to the betterment of his personality.

"Uh, yes, Professor, I am." Kagato fumbled with the small item he was currently holding, the comment by Washu catching him off his guard. Finally, he gained his wits back and control of the object came soon after and Kagato was able to turn on a few more recording devices besides the small one he had initiated earlier each watching from a different angle. After which, the blue haired scientist gave Washu a nervous thumbs up.

"Good." Washu stated simply then turned back to her project. As soon as she turned around, Kagato's face returned to scowl. Quickly, though he caught his annoyance and turned his attention back to the small personal recorder gathering every bit of information it could. Washu's energy equations were really good, actually, and perfect for his plans. Though how the energy of the gems was made into such a compact form, Kagato could only wonder at.

The energy that he would be able to create from his own gems would more than suffice his plans that had taken form over the many years he had been Washu's student. Kagato still considered it a waste to give this new "daughter" the power that the small trio of baubles controlled. However, she shouldn't be too much of a problem to deal with; he was after all a genius. So carefully, ever so carefully, Kagato watched the process before him, watched as Washu and Yakage inseminated the ova with pure energy, watched as the life form slowly took shape within the tube. All the while he applied the stolen equations to his own projects, secretly working on them when no one was around or when occasions warranted it, in his own laboratory.

Finally the day at hand dawned. The day Washu's daughter, named Ryoko, would be "born." Washu was, figuratively speaking, a nervous wreck. Despite the fact that she was entirely sure of her methods, she still couldn't chase the one nagging thought that something was going to go wrong. Looking at her daughter, Washu knew that everything came out right. The crisp cyan hair, the draw of the lips, the way her eyes slanted somewhat like a feline's. Combined with a body that could rival any beauty queen's, Ryoko would be a force to be reckoned with if anyone dared try and take her away. Her daughter had it all, the power of the gems, the tactile genius and the strength of approximately ten beings; somehow if all those had failed, Ryoko's last line of defense was her own body. She could either seduce or entrance, it made no difference which, both would have the desired affect of drawing the attacker's thought processes away from Ryoko herself and create a weakness to be exploited.

Washu looked around, slightly annoyed. Yakage was here, standing beside the disconnecting machine that would sever the false umbilical cord. However, Kagato was not present, which served to make her slightly nervous. Her oldest student had been acting rather strange lately, slinking about, smiling incomprehensibly and talking to himself. Most of all though, he would play that damned organ of his until the wee hours of the morning, keeping her up and no doubt by the look under his eyes Yakage as well. Finally, she sighed and gave up waiting for the mysteriously missing assistant. It was time to sever the cord whether Kagato was present or not, he would just have to watch the recording, she supposed.

The final countdown began, and the diminutive scientist's excitement grew with every second counted down. She would finally be a mother again! As the last second though a soft alarm went off. Washu's eyes grew round as she realized what the alarm meant. That particular machine was monitoring the melding process of the gems and Ryoko. The gems on the girl's neck and arms began to glow eerily green as both Washu and her youngest assistant scrambled to find out what the problem was. It almost seemed as if an outside energy source was trying to assert control! 

_But that's impossible! _ Washu tried to reason with herself. _ Any power source able to assert control over those gems would have to be synchronized with their power! There's no known force in the universe that I've found that could match the power of my gems._

Yet to Washu's amazed eyes, it was happening here, in her lab, asserting control of her daughter and trying to take her away from the scientist. This couldn't be happening, where was Kagato? She needed his help now. Suddenly, all at once, it dawned on her then. The mysterious attitude, the many recording devices the aloof often superior façade. Kagato was somehow doing this; he had somehow unlocked the power source for her gems. With actions born of desperation Washu summoned her personal computer and initiated a trace program. She would find that bastard soon enough and see him personally kicked out and disgraced.

Unfortunately for Washu, just as the trace program finished, the take-over process initiated. Ryoko broke the glass that surrounded her and stepped out uncertainly, trying to make sense of the words that filled her mind. Soon enough they became clear and she seized the stunned Washu before any action could be made. As Yakage stood dumbfounded at the turn of events, Washu briefly tried to get herself free from Ryoko's grasp, though she knew it was no use. With the power she had from the gems, her newly "born" daughter would have the strength of an entire host of soldiers.

Just as Washu gave up her struggle, laughter echoed through the room and the lab door opened silently. Standing in the doorway was her former student, the man who was responsible for impossibly taking her daughter away. The scientist immediately renewed her struggle. The appearance of Kagato was all that Yakage needed to snap out of his shock however, and he rushed the older man. Unfortunately, whatever new power Kagato had given himself to control Ryoko gave him several other powers he previously did not have.

In one swift move, Yakage was blown back against the wall, knocked unconscious by a single blast of strong wind from Kagato's outstretched hand. The scientist turned renegade grinned cockily as he admired his hands.

"Do not mess with me boy," he told the knocked out form of Yakage. "I now am the superior fighter." He sighed with accomplishment. "Yes, such marvelous power, to think this power would have been wasted on an emotional tool such as this thing." Kagato turned his glance towards Ryoko and Washu and frowned slightly.

"Kagato!" Washu screamed, still struggling futilely within Ryoko's strong grasp. "What have you done to her? How were you able to gain control over the gems?" She then asked, trying with all her might to calm herself down and think rationally about the situation.

The superior smile once again returned to Kagato's face. "Why that's simple, my dear professor. I just added one more step to your energy equations. It was not too hard for a genius such as myself to figure out how to equal the output, even on the same wavelength. You'll notice that is how I am able to control you daughter." He added snidely.

"Unfortunately, I was not able to figure out how to give them such a compact form, but I think the Soja would be a perfect place to harbor my ultimate power, don't you think?" 

Washu stopped struggling and stared at her former student with wide eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Kagato merely laughed and shrugged his shoulders. 

"It's the perfect vehicle for the perfect power," was all he simply said then began to walk out the door before stopping. "Oh and one more thing, I'm also taking that precious pet project of yours, I think it would be a marvelous addition to Ryoko's power." With that said, Kagato walked out the door, tossing a simple crystal back towards Washu. When it hit the stunned professor, it began to expand up her legs, making a crystalline lattice.

Before she had any more time to think the lattice worked its way up her body avoiding the points where Ryoko was holding on, effectively sealing her within. Just as it covered her face however, Washu was able to once again able to look in her daughter's eyes. They were green, the same as the color of the gems before this happened. Sadly, the scientist sighed and allowed the rest of the lattice to cover her up, closing her eyes just as it did so.

__

Please be well, my daughter, she thought quietly towards the form just barely within her consciousness. _We'll meet again, someday. _With that last remaining thought, Washu's world went black.

** *

The door behind Kiyone slid open silently and she turned to around to see the slightly pensive expression of Ayeka.

"Is she asleep?" Kiyone asked with concern in her voice.

Ayeka nodded silently. 

"Yes she finally went to sleep a few minutes ago." Ayeka sat down in the seat next to Kiyone and sighed. "I've never seen her this bad. She's always had nightmares, true, but never this bad or this frequently." The First-Princess of Jurai added, staring directly in front of her towards the endless starry sky of space.

Kiyone looked towards the princess and smiled. The elder Juraian was so concerned for her sister. The frequent wake ups, the crying and the restlessness that Sasami had had in the past few days were really beginning to take their toll on Ayeka however. The Princess now had deep rings under her crimson eyes, and her hair was barely combed neatly into a single ponytail; the sign of a very fast transition from sleep to a full wakeful state. Her posture as well, instead of proud was now slouched with fatigue as she sat heavily in the co-pilots seat of the Yagami. The good news out of all of this was that they would be landing on Jurai in less than a day.

That thought, however, gave Kiyone a reason to pause however. What would she do after that? She had really wanted to feel needed again, and this mission was a way to do that. But once it was completed, should she return to Earth and stay for the rest of her vacation or go straight to her uncle's after that? She sighed, echoing the expression worn by Ayeka. The decision was just so difficult to make. On one hand, she really wanted to see Mihoshi, on the other; a simple vacation would drive her nuts. She couldn't not do anything.

"Kiyone?" Kiyone brought herself out of her ruminations when she heard the voice of Ayeka beside her.

"Yes?" she answered back, giving her full attention to the princess.

""I really want to thank you again for volunteering to return us. I really would not have liked to see anyone but Sasami's close friends know she's in this state. Once we reach Jurai, I'm sure I can trust the royal palace guards to keep quiet, but the transport vessel? I'm not quite sure."

"I've told you Ayeka, it's no problem for me. I wanted to feel needed again. If taking you and Sasami to Jurai was the way to do it, then take you to Jurai I will. I just wish some of the others could come with us. I kind of miss Tenchi and Mihoshi, not to mention Ryoko, strangely enough.

Ayeka smiled and chuckled slightly. 

""Yes, she does kind of have that effect on people, doesn't she?" Now that the Juraian was away from the demoness for an extended time, Ayeka could really see some of the merits Ryoko had, or at the very least she missed having the distraction of bickering with the pirate. If one thing could be said about Ryoko, it was that she definitely kept Ayeka at her sharpest. Thinking about it, it slightly worried the Juraian Princess that she missed the pirate so much. They certainly weren't friends, or were they? But the other person mentioned by Kiyone drove all thoughts of the pirate out of her head: Tenchi.

Ayeka's smile softened as she thought about the young Earthling. What was he doing at this very moment? Was he missing her? Those were some of the foremost questions in her mind as the stars continued their rushing by the Yagami in an endless stream of white lines.

It wasn't hard for the teal haired ex Galaxy Police detective to figure out what exactly Princess Ayeka was smiling about. One of the first things that were made blatantly clear to Kiyone when she arrived was that Ayeka and Ryoko both had very deep feelings for the boy. It was apparent in the way that the Demoness flirted, and the way that the Princess smiled both wildly different approaches but as far as she could see none were making themselves known to Tenchi. Which, of course, the detective could only wonder at. 

"Ayeka? May I ask you a question?" Kiyone voiced, after a few more seconds of consideration. Her natural curiosity was beginning to kick in again, especially confronted with the fact that they were now light years away from earth and Tenchi was not among them.

"Uh, sure." Ayeka answered quietly, drawing her self up out of the chair once again. She generally liked talking with the galaxy police detective, as Kiyone made a very good traveling partner, but she was so tired at the moment, and Tenchi was just about to kiss her in this wonderfully romantic daydream she had been having.

"Why now?" Kiyone simply asked.

"I…I'm not sure what you mean by that." Ayeka said finally after several minutes of silence. "Why now what?"

"Why go to Jurai now? Yes, I realize that Sasami is homesick, but couldn't the worst of it have been taken care of with Queens Funaho and Misaki visiting? Why do you feel it's necessary to go all the way to Jurai almost without warning, and certainly without Tenchi? I know you love him, so why would you leave him now when you could have helped **without** leaving?" Kiyone finished, almost exasperated because things just weren't making sense anymore. People weren't acting as her original instincts said they would, earthling boys becoming more than they appear, Princesses running off, leaving their one and only love alone with a romantic rival dreams, nightmares… nothing made sense to her anymore.

Ayeka blinked and considered Kiyone for a few moments. Why was she doing this? Certainly her mothers were looking for just a simple excuse to come visit Earth (not to mention Tenchi again as it seemed both Misaki and Funaho grew quite fond of him last time they visited), Sasami probably even missed them more than she did Jurai itself. So why then were they going to Jurai? Ayeka tried to tell herself that there was a simple explanation for it all, but she couldn't; she knew that it was much more than simplicity could cover. Finally the princess sighed and closed her eyes, trying to find some answer to Kiyone's question. Perhaps it would even help explain it to her as well.

"I can't say much more than that it's just a feeling, Kiyone." Ayeka finally answered, looking towards the slightly older woman. "I feel as if I **must** go to Jurai, because that's the only way. Yes, you have it correctly, I do l-love Tenchi and it was the most difficult decision I have ever made in my life to separate myself from him. This trip however, simply must be done there is no other way."

Kiyone sat back into her cushy chair, considering what Ayeka had just told her. Feelings and hunches, she supposed, were a natural part of Juraian culture considering their powers. Even considering this fact however, something didn't quite add up in her mind. However, Ayeka quickly changed the subject to a much lighter one and the two women spent the rest of the short hours talking and laughing pleasantly.

Finally, after three days of travel, the giant red ship with its two escorts pulled into a geo-synchronous orbit with the planet of Jurai. Kiyone gazed for several seconds at the giant blue globe that was the seat of power within the Galaxy. It had been years since she had even seen this planet much less visited it, and now she was to be the temporary guest of the royal family as Ayeka had convinced her to stay at least for the rest of the day with her and Sasami and see Jurai. Kiyone sighed and despite herself smiled a bit, this 'vacation' was turning out to be quite the adventure to exotic locations.

Within moments, a voice hailed Yagami and gave her a private landing area within the royal grounds. Between the lights, the guidance beams and Kiyone's skillful piloting, finding the area took only a few minutes and the actual landing was a soft and gentle as anyone could wish. Kiyone, Ayeka and Sasami had finally arrived on the planet surface, ready but unsure of what to expect once they walked out the door. Once the landing site had been determined, Ayeka had gone to wake up her little sister, who had slept in Kiyone's guest quarters for most of the journey. Now, the small princess was up in the bridge with both of the older women, staring out at the wide expanse of green that was the Royal landing field.

Ayeka sighed softly to herself and resigned to the situation. She was finally home. A home she was no longer certain she cared to be, yet missed terribly. Also within the comfortably warm Juraian atmosphere, there existed the answers to all of the happenings within the past weeks. She couldn't turn back now, especially for her own sake. She had to find out what was wrong with Sasami.

As the portal opened and the entourage that was there to greet them came into view, Ayeka looked longingly at the stars towards the general direction in which she thought Earth was at. Silently and ever reverently, she sent thoughts of her love to Tenchi and a prayer of safety towards his family. She would return soon, Ayeka promised herself that. Finally setting her expression to one of polite interest, as a good Princess should, she stepped out into the duality of familiarity and confusion.

** *

Washu woke with a start at the sudden hard sensation at her back. The last thing she remembered was Kagato sealing her up within his crystalline stasis field, then losing consciousness. Has she been set free? Or was this just some sort of dream she was having while locked away?

Slowly Washu lifted herself off the ground and tried to dust herself off. As she was in the middle of performing this action her hands and her brain finally connected in a single instant. This definitely wasn't her normal body. Frantically Washu looked down towards her feet and realized that instead of her usual five feet, she was a mere four! Letting her hands roam down her back lead to another startling conclusion that her hair only came down to about mid back level. Her clothes, she noticed, were of a lot more simplistic nature as well. No longer there was the Science Academy uniform she was so used to wearing. Instead there was just a simple green shirt matched with a faded pair of black pants.

"This won't do at all," Washu said quietly to herself and began to gather the mental energies required for a change. First of all, she was going to make herself bigger, and then she was going to get rid of these simple clothes. She had worn the uniform to long and had gotten accustomed to the point where she almost did not feel comfortable in anything else.

At about what should have been the right time; Washu focused her energy and willed herself to be taller. Nothing happened. Washu blinked a few times and tried again with the same results. She couldn't understand, she had done this a thousand times before. Why now, would it choose to stop working? After a few more attempts, Washu gave up that approach and began concentrating on her clothes. Several minutes later, she realized that even that did not work. Whatever was going on, she was stuck the way she was.

It was at this point that Washu finally began noticing her immediate surroundings. She was standing in the middle of a smooth, clean swept walkway composed of white stone. Just a few short steps directly behind her was a beautifully kept garden in full bloom. The small circle of green was even complete with a gurgling fountain with a small cherub like creature blowing water from its mouth. Directly in front of her stood a huge house painted white. The house itself looked terribly familiar to Washu as she considered the colorful trim and wide expanse of a porch. Though at this moment, she could not place exactly from where she knew this structure.

Following an irresistible urge to explore the house closer, Washu careful made her way towards the front steps leading to the door. Her smaller feet and lower profile taking some time to get used to before natural balance took over. As little Washu got even closer to the front door, the feeling of familiarity became stronger and stronger until a small niggling thought surfaced in her brain. She knew this house because this was from where she had her first memories! At any moment a tiny woman with messy but beautiful hair would come walking out the door and see her. That woman would then become her adoptive mother until the time she qualified for the science academy. That small long forgotten memory was enough to stop Washu in her tracks, waiting nervously for the lady to walk out the door.

The event happened right on cue. Seconds after Washu remembered this place the front door opened and out walked a woman of medium build and a wild main of brown hair. She was wearing what could be considered a professional suit, with its slight resemblance to the earth attire of the same name. The velveteen blue of the jacket and the knee length skirt went well with the cleanly pressed shirt and the brilliant white lab coat that the woman was also wearing. Unfortunately, not expecting a small child to be directly in her path, the woman ran headlong into Washu, almost falling directly on top of her had the taller woman caught a nearby post and stopped her descent.

"Oh!" The woman cried out, as she clung to the post with as much strength as she could. "What in the world? I swear I'm getting clumsier everyday." 

Washu could plainly hear the woman begin talking to herself, while rubbing a sore ankle, still clearly unaware of what she ran into. Finally, as the woman set her right foot down cautiously and then began to take another step forward, she noticed the small form directly in front of her and the reason for her apparent clumsiness.

Little girl and adult spent several second staring at each other. Green eyes perfectly reflecting a pair of deep sapphire blue until finally, the blue ones blinked.

"Oh, hello there!" The brown haired lady exclaimed; her expression of confusion melting away into one of kindness. "How did you get here?"

Washu, or at least the consciousness that was the dreaming Washu, wanted to answer the question as best she could. Unfortunately, as real as it seemed, this was only a dream, and as such was bound by the unbreakable rules of the past. So the only answer the woman received was a shy stare and a slight shake of the head.

"You don't know?" The woman frowned, then bent on one knee bringing her head about level with little Washu's. "Do you know where you mommy and daddy are?"

Another shake of the little girl's head answered that question.

"No?" The frown on the woman's head deepened as she thought about the situation. On one hand, she couldn't be late for the project that was due to start today. On the other, she very well couldn't leave this poor thing here on her front steps. But what if her parents came while she wasn't here? Over and over again the questions circulated within her mind, each choice was carefully weighed against each other in a manner that could only be described as intensely scientific until finally, she reached a decision. 

A smile slowly spread across her pretty face again as she once again regarded the little girl in front of her. "My name is Misuko; would you like to come to work with me today? I'll bet your parents are very worried about you, and we can access a scanner at my lab." Misuko smiled warmly, placing all her trust within that smile.

Washu smiled shyly and merely nodded her head once again and extended her hand towards Misuko's. Something deeply within the small girl's mind impelled her to trust this woman with all her heart, not to mention the strange feeling of comfort that she felt when the world 'lab' was mentioned.

"Oh!" Misuko turned around quickly while scrawling a quick note to place on her door. "Silly me, I forgot to ask you your name!" She smiled widely again and picked up the little girl, holding her in the crook of her arm protectively.

Despite herself, little Washu smiled. 

"Washu." She said, very shyly.

"Well, my little Washu, shall we go to Misuko's nice laboratory now?" She asked of the little girl in her arms, finishing the note quickly and sticking it to her front door in plain view, just in case someone should coming looking for Washu. She had even placed the child's name visibly on the cover so the person would know it was for them. Then she quickly left for the vehicle parked at the side of her driveway and it was off to work.

A comfortable forty-five minutes later, Misuko and her small guess were walking into a huge glass structure that at first glance appeared to be nothing more than a simple office building. Once inside however, the security was airtight. This was the galaxy famous Laboratory of Energy Resources building, a division of the Galaxial Science Academy. This simple structure was the epicenter for all the latest research into variable energy forms, alternative fuels, and ionic weapons shielding; though the latter was in its smaller advanced weapons and defenses department.

Still Carrying the toddler Washu, Misuko approached a small non-descript entrance near the side of the building, away from the main entrance. This was the employee's entrance. Though it was really only used by the most senior scientists and researches when they wished to avoid certain events that were going on in the main lobby. Here, there was a simple check in desk with three to four guards posted conspicuously. Though non-human security measures in this entrance were numerous and very effective.

"Good morning, Kaj." Misuko said to the nearest guard. When the young man turned towards the sound of his name being called, she smiled brightly and waved at him. This event in itself was enough to make the poor guard turn bright red. It was well known that the bright young guard had a heavy crush on the senior scientist. It was also a fact, that Misuko loved to make his affection evident being the teasing light natured woman she was.

"Go-good morning, Misuko." Kaji stammered and turned even redder as Misuko bent over a little to sign her name on the clearance form.

"I will be bringing a little guest with me today, I'm sure she's not capable of doing much where I'll be." Misuko finished, turning her smile up a notch and looking directly at the poor guard.

"W-well, we're not supposed to let kids in, Misuko, you k-know that." Kaji tried to remain somewhat officious, but in the onslaught of Misako's attack his resolve was melting like butter in a frying pan.

"Oh, I know Kaj-chan." Misuko pouted, making full use of the affectionate nickname. "But I've no where else to put her, and besides, I think she'll be better off in the lab anyway." Misuko's smile suddenly returned and brightened by one more factor, poor Kaji couldn't resist a second longer.

"Alright, Misuko." Kaji sighed and wished that for once the pretty scientist didn't tease him so much. "But if I hear anything about this later, I will not accept the blame."

"You're so nice, Kaj-chan." Misuko replied, kissing the boy lightly on his cheek, setting the poor guard's nose bleeding. "Hello boys." Misuko then turned her smile on the other three intently interested guards. "Protect my lab well, today." She called over her shoulder with a wave.

Kaji just sighed and shook his head. _I'm never going to wash this cheek again._ He thought silently to himself. Then he carefully schooled his expression back into a more appropriate watchful stare.

Meanwhile, Misuko's lab team had begun preparations to begin the test stages of their latest experiment. It was at this point, the pretty senior scientist sauntered in toting a small Washu in her arms. Though in the hectic atmosphere that was the preliminary countdown, no one noticed her as she placed the small girl on the floor near some inert metallic walls.

"No, you stay here and be a good girl for Auntie Misuko, alright?" she smiled warmly as the child nodded affirmative then promptly sat against the wall and watched the happenings with unveiled interest.

"Now, Sanko?" She called over to her assistant who was just jogging by her that moment.

"Hunh? Oh Misuko, you're here, great!" the assistant senior scientist smiled and gave his boss a quick hug. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't be able to make the unveiling of your baby."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Misuko replied happily. "Now what has been initiated? Have there been any problems so far with the initiation sequence?"

"Hmm, well there was a slight problem with…" Washu couldn't hear the rest as the pair began to walk outside of her hearing range. In sense she was ad to see the older woman go, but there were just so many fascinating things going on near here, that soon the little girl's attention was drawn everywhere. There were scientists in white lab coats running around everywhere she turned, all going through a pattern less dance that seemed only known to themselves, yet fit intricately with their neighbors. Somehow, but only just vaguely, little Washu could understand what they were saying, and what exactly they were doing. Though she couldn't know it, all of these feelings were directly from the small bit of the elder Washu's consciousness leaking out to the forefront. In either event, little Washu sat there and watched the actions without twitching, doing exactly as Misuko told her to do.

Watching the lab scientist for an extended amount of time, however, began putting the small girl into an extremely relaxed state. After a few moments in this dizzily happy mood, Washu began to nod to one side, until she woke with a start. A few minutes later she nodded to the other side, but this time didn't have the will to fight it off. The spell of the scientist's movements proved too much to resist for any more time. Within seconds, Washu had curled up into a little ball and fell fast asleep. Later, as Misuko was passing by the area where she left the little girl, she saw that Washu was fast asleep. The elder woman spared a brief warm smile, and then walked on intent on her original errand.

All people dream and little Washu was no exception. Unfortunately, during one of the happiest she would ever remember she was rudely awakened. The dream of a family, perhaps a bit of foreshadowing with the bond she was forming with Misuko, ended abruptly with the sound that would forever change her life.

Washu woke with a start to the sound of alarms and claxons going off everywhere. A strange red light filled the room she was in with an eerie blink. Everywhere the little girl looked there were people running all over the place, trying to get a sense of the situation and what to do about it. In the middle of everything, she found Misuko, the somewhat happy go lucky personality gone. In its place stood a firm leader, ordering everyone about, making decisions that only someone with her experience could make as the senior scientist.

"Cooling gone red line!" Someone screamed from Washu's right. "Primary system backups initiating, running at only one-third capacity!"

"Primary power cables cut; the main unit is not receiving commands!" Another shouted, this time from Washu's left.

"Run the secondary cables to our backup, increase power flow to cooling units!" Misuko yelled at the top of her lungs, trying hard to be heard over the sound of the flurry of activity. "Begin evacuation immediately, I don't want to see any body here that doesn't need to be here!"

"Misuko! The power has been cut off to the entire laboratory! We can't open the doors!" Even as the one called Sanko was running towards Misuko and telling her this, the room went black followed by the energy floodlights blinking on seconds later.

"Then use the manual open override!" Misuko threw Sanko towards the glass switch designed to force the doors open in case of emergency. But it was no use, the second the doors opened Sanko discovered that the containment blast doors had already been sealed, isolating the rest of the group from the LER building.

"This can't be happening!" The frantic assistant yelled, kicking the double thick doors futilely. "They've locked us in, there's no escaping now!"

"Then we'll just have to contain the leak!" Misuko refuted, but only on the exterior was she so calm. Inside she was in turmoil. They had just been locked in by their fellow employees, sacrifices to the ultimate necessity of preserving the rest of the LER building as well as pointing out flagrantly the chances of any of them ever seeing the sun again. How in the hell did this get so bad?

Quickly she found Washu, huddled in the corner, trying hard to stay out of the way. _Poor thing, _she thought to herself. _Probably her first day away from her parents and she may never see them again now._

Instead though, this thought gave her new courage. _Little Washu **will** see her parents again,_ she thought viciously, then gathered the girl in her arms and started issuing new orders.

"Sanko, get online with the mainframe and try and re-route the power we have left to the containment shields. If this thing goes we want to make sure that we will be safe at least. There's no salvaging our project now." She continued sadly, and it would have been a lovely new energy process too.

Sanko had no time to initiate the command however, as one of the lab techs suddenly dropped her clipboard and clapped a hand to her mouth, staring directly at one of the output screens. Coming over to the screen the young woman was looking at, Misuko's eyes grew wide.

"Oh hell." She stated calmly and hugged Washu to her. The core had just gone breach, and any second now there would be an explosion on monumental proportions, one that the containment doors had no hope of withstanding. _How in the hell could a breach produce so much energy?"_ Misuko thought to herself as she watched the energy readings spike. _This is definitely **far** from any projections anyone of us had._

Misuko turned to Washu and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry little one, for not bringing you to your parents. I hope they somehow will forgive me." Out of the corner of her eyes, Misuko could swear she saw a red light emanating from one of the girl's pockets, but dismissed it off hand as the reflections of the warning lights.

Everywhere around the young woman, lab techs and research scientist alike stopped what they were doing, sensing their immanent deaths. One by one they turned towards the shielded windows and watched as their beautiful energy core exploded, filling the room with and an extremely bright light. Misuko ducked and held Washu closer to her and screamed along with the scared little girl then blacked out, letting the sweet form of unconsciousness ease the pain from the heat generated by the explosion.

_I'm so sorry little one. _

Hours after the incident, alone in the rubble of what was once the famous LER building, emergency workers wearing special contact suits found a hollowed out area near the epicenter of the explosion, protected by a small spherical red shield. In the middle of the shield was found a young woman in a tattered white lab coat and a small girl with wild pink hair huddled together and unconscious. Such was the story of the only two survivors of the LER disaster.

** *

_Washu._

The voice that came to Washu's ears was sweet and melodious. She knew that voice, is she could just think hard enough about it. Washu could swear she knew that voice from somewhere.

_Washu._

The voice came again, this time though with a hint of impatience.

Washu looked up towards the direction where the sound was coming from. Sometimes it seemed as if it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Though if the petite genius concentrated hard enough, she could figure out the general direction. Slowly she opened her eyes to greet the softly impatient voice. When a softly glowing figure could be discerned, Washu opened her eyes even wider as she tried to make out whether or not she knew that form.

"I know you from somewhere, don't I?" She asked weakly, still trying to get over the fading images of her last dream sequence.

"You should," the melodious voice said. "I find it hard to believe that you have forgotten so much, sister."

Washu's eyes blinked in confusion at this form's use of 'sister.' What did she mean by that? Taking a closer look at the white figure standing before her Washu took into account the flowing brown hair, the bright purple eyes with small, round, and black pupils. She noticed the eyebrows of light green that extended out beyond the circular face almost like cat's whiskers if they weren't so high on the forehead. The slim corporeal body was vaguely transparent but still showed enough that Washu knew she wasn't a dream, or a ghost.

"What…What do you mean by 'sister'?" Washu asked quietly. "I have no sister that I'm aware of."

"That is because you do not remember us; in reality you have two sisters." The woman answered calmly, and then went on without pause. "However, it is time for you to remember us once again. The Cycle has willed us to continue on without delay anymore. His Will bids all of us to place our plans in motion."

"Whose will is this?" Washu asked, beginning to stand up and face the stranger in confusion. She definitely did not like the idea of someone controlling her, nor her actions. "What plans must we send into motion now?"

The ghostly figure closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.

"You truly do not remember anything." She said simply. "I had hoped that through your dreams you would remember parts of yourself that you had tried to forget, but also parts that reveal in a simple manner who you once were, and who you must become once again."

"What do you mean?" Washu asked again, getting slightly agitated that this person was not answering her question directly. "I am Washu Hakubi, my mother was Misuko Hakubi and I never knew my father."

"You fail to understand," the figure said. "Do you have them?"

"Have what?" Washu asked, now getting more than slightly annoyed.

"The Gems. The small trio of objects that you've had since you could remember," the woman pressed.

"No, I do not. Two of them are still left in the sword, Tenchi, and one of them is used by my daughter." Washu answered crossly.

The woman sighed. It would be somewhat more difficult now to show her, but somehow must. All it would take for Washu to gain her powers back is to remember. The Cycle could continue then as it always had, as it was meant to do. If the child before her wasn't going to remember herself then it was time for her to switch tactics.

"I am Tokimi," the woman began slowly. "I am a goddess and I rule the higher dimensions of life. Things beyond the eyes and ears of normal mortals."

Washu was not too startled by the information; she had heard that name before now. Though she was rather surprised that this 'dream' was taking on such a tangible quality. Her mind should be completely blocked from anyone getting inside her head.

"I'm sure you're familiar with Tsunami?" Tokimi continued, gauging Washu's reaction as she went. At her sister's nod, she went on. "She is also a goddess, as you're already aware of. However, she rules the lower dimensions, the ones dominated by mortals. Particularly, she has an interest in Juraians, whereas my interest lies in a people far beyond their realm of knowledge."

Washu blinked. "Yes, that's all well and good I'm sure. But what does this have to do with me?"

Tokimi sighed, for a supposed genius Washu could be pretty dense.

"This has to do with you, **sister**, because we need you to remember once again. Otherwise, the Cycle will be broken and basically, the universe will end." Tokimi watched her sister carefully, trying to determine the slightest reaction. She expected in the very least disbelief and awe. Instead Washu closed her eyes, and then thought for a bit.

"All this from one little girl refusing to remember, I'm impressed." Washu said finally, the suddenly she smiled. "I never knew I was so important!" she yelled excitedly.

This was not the reaction Tokimi expected at all. In fact, she just about shorted a fuse by this reaction. This, of course, was exactly what Washu wanted her to do. Taking a small breath, Tokimi calmed herself down and tried to remind herself that that was just how her sister dealt with the unknown or the difficult; she made a joke or acted in a childish manner. So with as much platitude as she could, Tokimi went on with her explanation. 

"You are indeed the third goddess. However, instead of serving a specific realm you function as a bridge between our two planes of existence. Although you have not ever seemed to have invested interest in any specific race you have, in the past, served both my people and Tsunami's people on an equal basis."

A brief image flashed before Washu's eyes of a time long ago, standing before her two older sisters. Though the image was gone in a matter of seconds, the thought stuck in her brain. IF she were a goddess, though, then why have the gems?

"Why are my gems with me then? Shouldn't I just have the powers that you or Tsunami has without them?" Washu asked.

They are the physical manifestation of your powers." Tokimi replied. "Without them you cannot function as a goddess. Only with them will you be able to take your rightful place amongst us again."

"What if I say no?" Washu asked very seriously. She wasn't a genius for nothing, she knew that this decision if it were hers to make would ruin several people's lives. Including her own daughter's.

Tokimi lowered her head for a second and sighed softly. She could see that Washu was already beginning to remember through brief images. Once full or even partial memory was restored the gems would automatically synchronize with her powers and begin re-absorbing back to their rightful owner. It was pointless to Tokimi for Washu to keep such silly attachments to mortals anyway, even if it was her own 'daughter.'

"You have no other choice," the goddess stated quietly. "If you choose not to remember, you deny who you are as well as doom every living thing in this entire Universe. If you remember, but try to resist what comes naturally you will only serve to make the pain worse for those you care about."

Another brief memory flashed before Washu's eyes. This time however she was able to determine a small part of what it was about. She stood before Tsunami, but the Tsunami of this time period. The resemblance was still there, of course, but there were subtle differences between the Goddess merged with Sasami and this one. In this image, Tsunami was bent over something with tears in her eyes. Washu could see that it was a boy about Tenchi's age and dressed similarly to the young Earthling when he was using the powers of the Light Hawk wings.

A closer inspection of the images proved that a small pool of blood was forming near the young man's back and Tsunami's hands were stained red along with several of her outer robes. A quick look several yards away from the pair revealed Tokimi standing above a kneeling figure with several cuts himself though definitely not as bad. A small triumphant smile was spreading across Tokimi's face as she looked upon the scene before her. Triumphant victory!

Although the memory was simply that, a series of images that happened eons in the past, Washu could feel her anger building both in the past and within herself. She could sense her past self gathering all of her powers, bent on destroying the one thing that could make her younger sister cry. A brief flash and Washu suddenly found herself back in her own time, still dreaming of her conversation with the image of Tokimi. But her anger was still there, her powers beginning to build within her.

"You ordered your liege to kill that boy," Washu stated dangerously towards the image before her. "Those are not the rules; you broke them with full knowledge of what it would do to your sister."

Tokimi looked down for a second, but quickly squared her face again, her eyes bright with anger and a few unshed tears.

"I had to do it," she stated quietly. "I knew it hurt Tsunami, but it was the only way to defy the Cycle he put before us. We must break the rules every once and while, and it is more than worth it if it buys us more time to end the game that we are all bid to do."

"You still killed, in cold blood," Washu stated under her breath, still feeling her powers growing beneath her. But in an instant realized what it was doing to her and viciously tried to stop it. It was, however, too late. Washu could feel her body begin to grow to normal size, her consciousness expanding until the Scientist could see the lines of time and other dimensions appear before her.

"No. NO!!!!!!" Washu screamed as the memories flooded her mind and the power redoubled, flowing through her veins like water. Slowly, the goddess Washu slunk to the ground with tears brightly burning in her eyes. Then Tokimi, who was standing before her for a few moments watching the spectacle, disappeared with a sad smile on her face. It was done.

"No." Washu whispered to the darkness surrounding her.

Ryoko watched the ceiling with quiet regard. It had been ages since she last slept, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do so yet. Somehow knowing something was coming to a head. Her suspicions were answered quickly with a sharp headache followed immediately by her mother's link disappearing from her head.

The pain was like nothing the demoness had ever known and she let out a cry of surprise as her body became airborne. The impact she had with the ground was nothing compared to the fire now spreading throughout her body, then within moments centered on her left wrist. Slowly and painfully the now scared Ryoko watched in horror as the gem implanted there began to glow hotly and disintegrate. This last moment was more than she could handle, and the brave woman let out a scream like none that had been loosed in the Masaki house before. 

In a moment Tenchi was out of his bed and running as fast as he could towards the sound that had woken him out of a demented dream. When he arrived on the scene, Ryoko was already unconscious, and Mihoshi was immediately behind him.

"Ryoko?!" Tenchi asked shaking the demoness lightly. "Ryoko!!" he shook harder but to no avail. She was out cold. There was only one person Tenchi could think of who could fix this, and so with Mihoshi's help, the young man began carrying his burden towards the portal door that led to Washu's lab. The eccentric scientist and Ryoko's mother the only person now who could even **think** of what do to.

Washu woke with a start in her own room, suddenly larger than she was when the woman went to bed. Then the dream she had came to her and Washu looked down at herself, suddenly knowing all that had happened while she had been asleep. Her daughter was unconscious, in shock at the sudden loss of the power that gave her energy. Tenchi was on his way with Mihoshi and the girl she had failed to be a good friend to and now failed to be even a good mother. Slowly she got on her knees and bent towards the soft pink covers, tears streaming from her eyes.

"What have you done to me?" She asked of the heavens above her. When no answer came, however, she broke into irregular sobs only getting several coherent words out of her mouth.

"What have I done to her?"

****

End

__

Author's End notes: Wow, this one definitely took a lot longer than I ever thought it would take. It was insanely difficult sometimes to get through some of the dialogue and I even had long spurts of nothing to write. But finally, my muse bit me hard enough to finish this dang thing. ^_^ Hope you liked it, and don't worry part 4 is being written right now, but probably won't be up until after Christmas. Maybe not even until late January depending on my muse. Until next time, let me know what you all think! --Garasu


	4. Opening Moves

****

Infinite Wills

Part 4: Opening moves

Author: Garasu

Tenchi quietly sipped the tea that had been given to him by his grandfather moments before. He often did not come to the small temple at the top of the hill near his house unless he was required to do chores. But today was different. This morning he was rudely awakened by the loud scream from Ryoko as she collapsed from her beam and since then nothing had gone right. After he had given the unconscious demon over to Washu and had the door firmly shut in his face, Tenchi had not been able to do anything. Finally, his Grandfather, Katsuhito, had found him trying vainly to clean the living room and brought him to the small shrine.

As Tenchi sipped the calming tea, Katsuhito watched his grandson carefully. Though he had not been present when Ryoko had collapsed, it wasn't very hard to sense what had happened through Funaho. Somehow, the gems that had been buried within the hilt of his sword had dissolved to reappear elsewhere. Since this had happened to the pair in the sword, Katsuhito assumed that the same thing had happened to Ryoko's gem. The demoness could of course function without her gems but he could only imagine the shock that it must have caused her to suddenly lose that large amount of power. Indeed though, even as he was worrying about Ryoko, some of his worry was also bent selfishly upon himself. Without the gems feeding power to Funaho and in turn himself, how much longer would he be able to function? Much less under the guise of an old man.

Of course, by Juraian standards, Katsuhito was still quite young. Even if the power source failed to sustain the mirage he would still have a long life ahead of him. What, however, would that do to Tenchi, who had grown up with the image of a wizened old man as his grandfather? How would Ayeka react to the sudden change? He suspected that a large part of the reason she was able to move on past their engagement was because he was an old man now. What would that do to her fragile sense of fairness? In that, Katsuhito was guilty. Guilty that it was necessary to fool his only grandson and his own half sister in to believing something which was untrue, guilty for the shock and pain he might cause when they found out the truth. 

However, with the careful ease that many years of practice brings, Katsuhito was able to store away his fears and doubts about the future and focus on the main objective before him: Tenchi. When he had found the boy, the young man was obviously in emotional distress as he had nearly worn a hole through the carpet scrubbing a stain that had been there for years. A simple statement and an invitation was all that the priest needed to bring his grandson to the shrine for tea and perhaps a bit of meditation if the moment could be forgotten.

Tenchi continued to stare straight ahead, trying to count the amount of spots on the wall behind his grandfather. He knew what his grandfather was trying to do, and though appreciated it very much; Tenchi was just not in the mood to let anything go at the moment. Too many things had happened today to just calmly let the slip to the back of his mind, so with every ounce of his mental strength he fought against the soothing effect the tea had and focused instead on an inane task such as counting spots. Tenchi knew that his grandfather was also about to begin talking. Some lesson or other about calming the mind or perhaps even an odd bit of Haiku that the priest seemed fond of writing. So it came as a huge surprise that he wasn't even close when Katsuhito spoke.

"So, I assume you have been following the Tokyo Dragons on the television?" Katsuhito asked, with the quiet platitude any priest is expected to have. "They seem to be having a mighty fine season, don't you think?"

Tenchi nearly spit his tea out in surprise. This was certainly not something that he had expected his grandfather to talk about. Yet, the old man was there before him, staring inquiringly, expecting an answer. 

"I…I… don't know." Tenchi hesitated, unsure of what to say or even do. How could his grandfather be so nonchalant about this matter? The house had literally been upturned within the past few days. How in the world was he supposed to answer the question? Should he get annoyed at his grandfather for being so nonchalant? Or maybe he should recognize it for the blissful distraction it could be. Dammit! Why did he have to be so indecisive?

"Hmmm… I guess that you haven't been following them." Katsuhito said, after a few interminable minutes of watching his grandson squirm. "Shame, you have been missing quite a few good games."

The priest took another sip of his tea, and then calmly regarded Tenchi from across the table and sighed. The boy certainly wore his emotions on his sleeve for the entire world to see. Anyone whom he passed on the street could plainly detect that something massive was troubling the boy, but the problem, it seemed, was actually getting him to talk about it. Katsuhito spared another sigh. Tenchi was notoriously difficult sometimes in talking about certain things, especially of anything to do with the female sex.

"I…I guess I should be getting back to the house now." Tenchi began, sensing the awkward silence between himself and his mentor. Besides, he really didn't feel like talking just yet. There still seemed to be a great deal of things left to fume over before he wished to get over them, which was exactly what his grandfather was trying to help him do. "Thanks for the tea." Tenchi bowed once to his grandfather respectfully before finishing the last drop and walking towards the door, feeling his grandfather's eyes follow his movements.

"Of course." Was all that Katsuhito said before Tenchi walked out the door and closed it behind him. Spring had come a while ago to the Masaki shrine, and he was already beginning to feel the heat of summer, which would begin in only another month. Still, the cloudless sky and the slightly cool breeze blowing down from the higher hills carrying with it the slight hint of late blooming cherry trees gave Tenchi a pleasant walk down the countless flights of steps leading from the shrine proper to the house where he lived. In fact, by the time that Tenchi arrived at the front door, his spirits had already lifted a fraction and he felt renewed energy towards the busy tasks ahead.

****

A picture of far different magnitude however was left in the wake of Tenchi leaving the small shrine office. Inside, once calmly sipping tea while the younger man was there, Katsuhito's face now shifted with intense concentration. The power from his Funaho leaving him suddenly and forcing to maintain his image by his own willpower. Even for the short while Tenchi was in the room the task seemed to slip from his mental fingers constantly. Katsuhito was very glad that the boy was not very perceptive in his current state, for otherwise he would have easily noticed the beads of sweat beginning to appear at the former prince's brow or caught the slight hint of a grimace at the corner of the priest's mouth.

Finally, sure that Tenchi wouldn't return suddenly, Katsuhito let go of the image in his mind that was holding the illusion in place. Silently, the image faded leaving smooth skin in the place of weathered, turning gray hair into luxuriant brownish black. After mere seconds a young man not much older looking than Tenchi himself was left in the place of an old man. Softly, a sigh left Katsuhito's lips as the mental strain eased. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain with each passing hour the deception to so tugged at his conscious. Part of him, secretly hidden away within the folds of his sharp mind wanted to tell Tenchi, wanted to drop the lie that had been maintained for so long. But even as Tenchi was more ready now, with his knowledge of Jurai and his heritage than he was a mere two years ago it was still a daunting task to reveal that his grandfather was not much older in appearance than himself.

More daunting than the reaction Tenchi would have would be the one Ayeka might sustain. He held no allusions about himself, and was reasonably sure that her love for Tenchi was complete. Still, there was a small doubt in his mind that his appearance had helped usher the change within herself and that destroying that helping hand might throw the emotional princess into a state of turmoil. Not, of course that Tenchi would eventually win out against her confusion. When the two were together he could feel something snap into place almost audibly. They of course couldn't feel it, but it was almost if the two pieces of the same puzzle, twisting and turning, were trying to find a way that they fit together slowly building a larger image. Every time Katsuhito saw Ayeka and Tenchi alone it was as if more pieces were falling into place, she teaching him more about his heritage, he teaching her more about herself.

Softly, the priest padded to the nearest window and stared out at the brilliant cloud spotted sky. When a feeling of deep apology and regret came across his mind he smiled. Funaho's personality was always contrite; she didn't like leaving him to rely on his own power too often but was helpless in the face of her loss of energy.

"It's alright," he said to himself, forming silent thoughts of acceptance and love along with the physical words. "We knew it was bound to happen sometime."

Another silent wave came across his mind, this time expressing its own confusion, but also reluctant acceptance. Funaho had always accepted their fate together. She knew, even as they breached the Juraian atmosphere in pursuit of Ryoko so long ago that they were never coming back to the place of her birth. Still, it must be difficult to accept a sure, slow death knowing that there was nothing one could do about it. Katsuhito sighed to himself, though it was surely more painful to acknowledge the death of loved than oneself. The symbiotic bond between Royal Tree and member of the royal family was closer than that of even love. The tree and the person whom the tree joined with often shared the same personalities, thoughts and feelings. In essence, it was a joining of the mind; the Juraian providing the conscious thought and direction and the tree providing the ability to transport almost anywhere. The bond between the two was so strong for a tree of the second generation and earlier that rarely did they survive the death of their partner.

Fortunately, as Katsuhito knew, Funaho had taken root in the earth's fertile soil. Though she would never become a spaceship ever again the soil should provide a long and healthy life, albeit with a much reduced energy signature, for his beloved tree. Still, the thought of death and its immediate repercussions kept the now young looking priest occupied for some time.

** *

The black spacecraft drifted silently through the void of space, it's sleek and light absorbing hull making the ship appear as small black hole amongst the star riddled background. With the obvious destination of a small planet hidden halfway around the main star in the system, the spacecraft immediately corrected the course and checked its speed with a collection of small white-hot jets. Being careful to stay far away from the well-known defenses of the systems main habitable planet it carefully held a small holding orbit around the star and then went silent.

Unfortunately, the small spacecraft thousands of kilometers away with a large body between itself and the planet, failed to take into effect the other formidable defense the planet had other than electronic devices: living, conscious spacecraft.

Tsunami had designed the trees perfectly. They were the seamless integration of technology and biology, and like all biological life forms evolved and learned through experiences. It was exactly that sort of instinct, instilled into the trees conscious minds so long ago that the reason was forgotten by all that alerted a dainty brunette during her evening meal.

No longer uncomfortable with the small light touches in the mind that the Royal Trees used as communication between their partners and themselves, the woman paused only briefly to assimilate the information before schooling her expression into the pleasant appearance it had held before the mental interruption. A quick glance around her immediately revealed that no one else had been alerted by their Trees yet. Just as well, she thought, absently brushing a loose strand of her long hair away from her eyes. When another woman, this one with blue hair flowing around her body like two rivers caught her eyes and held them for a long while, Funaho smiled. It was just like Misaki to catch the momentary hesitation in her expression. The Second Queen of Jurai was too uncanny in her ability to perceive minute expression changes. When her brownish-green eyes quickly conveyed look that said "later," the skin surrounding the crimson eyes of Misaki crinkled merrily in response. She loved mysteries almost as much as she adored cute things.

Still, despite the merriment that was echoed throughout Misaki's frame, Funaho held her reservations about the sudden appearance of a small craft in their system. Especially if it had been holding the same pattern for some time. The orbit described by her ships calculations would place the orbit just outside their electronic sensor range. Though for the life of her, she couldn't imagine anyone attempting an aggressive scouting posture with Jurai, they're navy was just too powerful to have anything more engaging than a light skirmish. That was even considering that anyone in the known galaxy was disgruntled enough with the Jurai Empire to muster a sufficiently large force. That of course worried Funaho even more, if it wasn't anyone in the known Galaxy, it meant that it was someone that they hadn't encountered yet. That could be very dangerous.

In fact, Funaho thought it dangerous enough to tell Misaki immediately after dinner, when they were quietly finishing up some final affairs in their dual office.

"I had wondered what that small frown was for," Misaki commented as soon as Funaho had told her the news. "Does this warrant an official investigation, do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Funaho sat down in her chair heavily. "It's just one small ship, unknown configuration, but small enough to not be a serious threat to anything we have. It's well hidden too. The only reason my ship detected it was because she said she remembered it. Though she wasn't able to tell me from where or when."

"Interesting." Misaki intoned, deep in thought with her own ship. Sometimes the twin trees could combine their abilities to give a more complete picture, but all she was getting from her own ship was more of what Funaho was saying. That her ship remembered the design, but could not say from where.

"What should we say to Asuza?" Misaki asked, when she had concluded her conversation with her tree.

Funaho thought her answer through for a few minutes, considering all the options. Though she dearly loved her husband, she acknowledged that he could be incredibly stubborn sometimes. There were many times when it was just more convenient, as well as easier to let him find out through his own spaceship tree. Certainly, as she decided in an instant, this was one of those times.

"We say nothing," Funaho spoke slowly, then added quickly, "for now."

Suddenly the child like humor appeared in Misaki, momentarily catching the usually implacable Funaho off guard. 

"Oh! Can we go check it out? Can we?" She asked breathlessly, a wide-eyed innocent expression complete with huge grin absolutely devoid of anything but pure happiness. For a few moments, Funaho could only stare at her sister. True, she had been living with the happy go-lucky Misaki for centuries but that still did not prepare her for the frequent and drastic mood changes that the second queen sometimes went through.

Flustered, but not flabbergasted, Funaho thought upon Misaki's excited question. It had been quite a while since she had been out with her ship, and it might be nice to have only the stars and the large blackness of space before her again instead of the endless politicking of the Jurai nobility. In an instant, she had made up her mind, and silently nodded towards Misaki with a tolerant smile lining her face at the younger woman's antics.

"Your ship or mine?" Misaki asked as she and Funaho walked out of the room and towards the large bay that housed the Royal Family's space-ship trees completely unaware of the danger that awaited them, and indeed all of Jurai.

Kiyone sighed and laid back against one of the large comfortable cushions that graced the guest couch in Ayeka's private chamber. Since they had arrived not more than a few days ago, she had been run ragged with tours of the palace, of the city at the base of the roots of the imperial tree and even some of the surrounding area. Despite the exercise of all the walking, she had thoroughly enjoyed herself as Ayeka took her around to some of the more interesting things to see on Jurai. Sometimes Sasami, who was beginning to improve in both manner and health, came with them and even added her own list of hidden places of interest.

Today, however, she intended to move on to her Uncles place. She had enjoyed the hospitality of the Royal Palace, but now she acknowledged that it was time to move on with her original intent since that fateful day at Galaxy Police Headquarters. It had been a nice vacation for her, and a much needed rest period, but there was only so much rest that Kiyone was willing to take. After a while her hands started to itch for something to do. So it was during a brilliant sunset that Kiyone found herself saying goodbye to Ayeka and Sasami. Unfortunately, she found that the two queens had left the planet for some private business. This was a shame, because in the short while that she had spoken to the two women, she had genuinely liked them.

However, for Kiyone, the bitterest goodbye was held for the First-Princess, Ayeka. In the time that the two young women had been together over this strange and unexpected journey they had become quite good friends. Enough so that Ayeka had even confided in her love for Tenchi, which confirmed Kiyone's earlier surmise. Though the news didn't quite shock the teal haired ex-policewoman, it did give her a somewhat mild surprise that Ayeka had revealed that bit of information to her. But once given, Kiyone was not inclined to argue with the princess's trust.

"You really must consider again soon." Ayeka said quietly into Kiyone's ear, as they shared a quick good-bye hug, and then she withdrew with a shy smile lighted on her face.

"And you must consider visiting me at my uncle's." Kiyone added, repeating an offer she had made last night. "I think you'd really like it there, and Tarmin would absolutely flip at the chance to have Jurai royalty visit his office." Kiyone crinkled her nose in a wide smile, which took years off of her normally mature looking expression. "He'd probably try to get you to agree to buy some of his products as well." She added with a sparkle of laughter playing across her teal-blue eyes.

Ayeka laughed a soft, rich peal of genuine humor. "I'm quite sure that I'd like to meet your uncle." She said as she dried the laughter tears from her eyes, and then sobered as quickly. "Do please call often, I'd like to see how you are doing and it would be nice to hear from someone that spent time with all of us on Earth."

At the mention of that planet, Ayeka's vision grew unfocused as her thought drifted towards a subject that Kiyone had no trouble guessing. "Do you think they're all alright?" Ayeka asked, suddenly, letting her worry show through.

Kiyone smiled reassuringly until Ayeka returned the smile, shyly.

"I'm sure they're doing fine, but missing you and Sasami like crazy," she said.

Ayeka laughed again and quickly gave Kiyone another hug. "But I'll surely miss you! Now go, before I decide to change my mind and have the royal guards chase you down and bar you from leaving as I had originally planned!"

Now it was Kiyone's turn to laugh, then knelt down to her knees and spent a long moment giving Sasami, who had spent most of the past few minutes absolutely silent, a long hug.

"Do you really have to go?" Sasami asked, a hint of sadness tingeing her tone.

"Mmmhmm," Kiyone nodded. "I really have to go, I need to do something again; real work. My Uncle Tarmin has promised me a nice job and I think it's time to make good on that offer. You can always come visit whenever you like, right along with your sister."

Showing a maturity bellying her age, Sasami swallowed the sadness at Kiyone leaving and put on a sweet smile, then nodded her head in agreement, leaving no doubt in Kiyone's mind that she probably would see Sasami and Ayeka very soon. 

With all well wishes said, and several images of Kiyone, Ayeka and Sasami when they were touring Jurai as gifts in her arms, there was nothing left for Kiyone to do but silently turn from her new found friends and walk up the ramp that lead to the Yagami. It would be a relatively short journey to her Uncle's place, as the planet where his main headquarters were located was within Jurai space.

Once the familiar darkness of space was again surrounding Kiyone she leaned back into the softness of her pilot's chair, for a moment reluctant to enter the coordinates of Rukbat into the Yagami's drive computer. After only a moment, however, sense shook her from her reluctance. The vacation had served its purpose. Kiyone was well rested, and even sometimes at peace with her change in life. If she could just manage to make herself happy with Tarmin's engineers she would be very well off, but deep down, hidden within the depths of her mind was the inescapable fact that the Galaxy Police was the thing she held most dear. 

"Kiyone?" A synthesized voice suddenly called the woman from her ruminations. "Please enter coordinates."

"Oh, sorry, 'Gami. We're going to Rukbat." Kiyone replied, somewhat distantly. It took a lot to distract her mind when she got into a rut.

"Affirmative." Yagami replied in his usual brisk manner. "Coordinates locked, estimated time of arrival is three hours fifteen minutes and thirty seconds."

Kiyone knew she wasn't needed for anything more, Yagami was very efficient in maintaining courses through the Void. And since it was such a short journey there wasn't much that she could do besides taking a short nap and a nice hot shower, which she felt she desperately needed. Kiyone had been up very early in the morning, making sure that all of her belongings were back on the Yagami before she left, not that it really mattered if she had left anything behind though, but it was just long standing habit.

Leaving the comfort of her chair, Kiyone exited the small but well organized cockpit and bore immediately left and walked for several lengths before coming to a small lift door. Despite the relative size of Yagami, the actual habitable space inside the ship was small. The living quarters were confined to two small levels immediately below the cockpit level, with her personal room on the closest along with an entertainment and fitness area with several guest suites on the floors immediately below that. Everything else on the ship was either storage space or the engine.

When the lift door finally opened to the level which contained her suite of rooms Kiyone felt herself growing wearier with every step towards the door. But first, she desperately needed a shower otherwise she knew that she would sleep the entire three hours.

Kiyone was never more glad of the fact that she had taken the effort (not to mention the expense) of adding a real running water shower in the Yagami than when she felt the first drop of comfortably hot water on her fingertips. Her system was made up of a separate tank designed exclusively for this purpose that held a continuously recycling filter that made sure that the two hundred-liter tank capacity was never in danger of drying up. As Kiyone stepped under the running water and let it run down her back, her thoughts ran back to expression on Ayeka's face when the princess had finally confessed of her love towards Tenchi.

Watching Ayeka's face during that moment had made Kiyone feel the rare instance of jealousy towards her new found friend. The teal haired young woman had never really had time for relationships, or so she continuously told herself after the occasional eager young officer approached her and she turned him down. Of course, the time for such things never indicated that she didn't yearn for something a little more intimate than professional courtesy. Looking down at her slim physique, the water running through channels created by various striations of muscle or following curves of a more feminine nature, Kiyone decided she certainly wasn't unattractive. There were, of course, the offers she had turned down at various points or another or the even fewer offers she accepted over the past years. Still, those evenings were great fun, but nothing more than a temporary escape for both of them.

Unfortunately, even while Kiyone was wishing for a more permanent relationship she realized that all the wishing in the world was futile until she was willing to sacrifice part of her career to make one happen. At this moment in time she certainly wasn't willing to do that, so with a sigh she ducked her head under the gently flowing stream of water and stayed there for a moment as if trying to wash the unpleasant thoughts from her mind. After a quick wash and a little longer soak, Kiyone turned off the water and stood dripping inside the stall for a moment, then smiled. She realized then just how spoiled she had been by using the Misaki family onsen and the Royal bathing rooms on Jurai; her puny little shower was barely enough of a laxative anymore. Yet it still managed to calm her nerves just enough to make her excited about visiting uncle Tarmin again.

Kiyone spent the next half an hour sitting in front of a mirror, first drying off then brushing her long teal blue hair. Kiyone was a plain and practical woman in every respect. Even though she preferred her hair long, a direct contrast to most of the female police officers who kept their hair short, she never tied it in anything more complex than a simple braid during even the most formal occasions. Most days she kept it in a simple ponytail or let it hang down her back. One extravagance that she always indulged in, though was brushing. It was always such a relaxing feeling at the end of a stressful day to sit down in front of a mirror and feel the brush stoke through her lengths or gently massage the scalp with the bristles. Sometimes, when she was younger, Tarmin would even humor her and attempt to style her hair for her. Some of the best times of her childhood were spent in the bathroom while her uncle made a fool of himself brushing her hair and trying to tie it into the fancy knots that were fashionable with all the other girls her age.

Finally, when she was sure that all the various tangles that could have accumulated during a day were out, Kiyone snatched a small band from the table before her and tied her long hair into a quick ponytail. A few more moments were spent on finding her bedclothes and dressing. By the time she had finished everything and arrived at the foot of her bed, Kiyone felt like she could sleep the whole afternoon away. In fact, she had just barely uttered a verbal command towards Yagami to wake her shortly before they arrived before she was fast asleep.

Ayeka finally decided to go back towards the palace when the last glitter from the Yagami's engines was out of sight. She had almost forgotten how nice it was to have someone close to her own age to talk to. Right from the start, Ayeka had felt that Kiyone was someone that she could trust with almost anything. The teal haired ex-police detective (for Kiyone had given her the entire tale about how she came to be at the Masaki's the other night) had seemed to easily be one of the most level headed people Ayeka knew. And while she never always had the answers, if the two women talked long enough they could almost always find a solution to a presented problem.

"Ayeka?" 

Ayeka brought herself from her thoughts immediately at the sound of Sasami's inquisitive voice at her side. A warm, assuring smile spread across her face as she looked down towards her sister. The sadness that had been very evident in Sasami's posture before they left for Jurai seemed to have dissipated almost completely, though Ayeka could sometimes still hear a hint of it and only wonder at its cause. Still, though, it could very well have to do with the fact that all their friends were on a very far away planet.

"Yes, Sasami?" Ayeka asked.

Sasami hesitated for a moment, and then seemed to withdraw slightly away from Ayeka. "Oh, umm, nothing."

Ayeka sighed. Her sister was doing that more often lately. It was beginning to be a little frustrating, especially since the last incident that happened. She had thought that they had been able to settle any stray feelings that night so long ago when Tsunami had appeared before them to explain the little girl's feelings. Even more frustrating was the fact that Ayeka could never seem to draw anything more out after Sasami said something along those lines. So this time, she didn't even try, but instead changed the subject to something happier.

"We'd better get inside, Sasami," Ayeka said, letting a smile spread across her face. "Grandmother Seto is cooking again tonight. I'm sure you would like to exchange recipes again. She would especially like to know how good you've gotten while we were away."

That certainly seemed to catch Sasami's attention, as the next moment, a smile began to slide across the little princess's face at the thought of their Grandmother being so surprised at how she had improved her cooking skills. Grandmother Seto had taught Sasami to cook long ago when the girl had taken to following her around everywhere she went. At first, Asuza wasn't to happy about one of his children learning such a mundane task but he certainly came around that first meal where Sasami had definitely proved she had had a very deep talent for it.

So as Ayeka began to lead Sasami back to the palace, Sasami began to talk about all the wonderful things she was going to cook and Seto would be so surprised. Through most of the explanations, she could only smile tolerantly at many things that she just didn't understand, or sometimes sigh sadly. Ayeka had never been able to take to cooking as Sasami had. The elder princess supposed that there were just too many things for her to remember, to many details to sort out. Though, even when she wanted to make something nice for Tenchi, whom she would try and remember everything in the entire history of the world if would make him happy, it would never come out quite right unless her sister helped. After a while, Ayeka just had to swallow the fact that there were some things in which she would never be able to do.

That particularly hard to swallow fact occupied Ayeka all the way to her room, where she and Sasami then parted in order to get ready for dinner. Fortunately, tonight it was to be a family affair (the only times in which Seto and Sasami were allowed to indulge with the cooking). Ayeka really didn't feel like dealing with any of the foreign dignitaries that were constantly surrounding the Emperor of Jurai. Thinking of family, however, this fact reminded Ayeka that she had not seen her Aunt Funaho or even her mother all day. They had said that they were going on a short trip to investigate a matter, but that they would be back before dinner. Of course, as Chief Intelligence Officer and head of the Royal Bodyguards, Funaho and Misaki certainly had a lot of business to attend to but Ayeka couldn't help but to start to worry that the pair had not returned yet. As the princess began to get dressed for dinner, she wondered just what exactly they were up to.

"What do you suppose it is?" Misaki crowded next to Funaho, her expression wide with curiosity and wonder. Both she and Funaho had arrived at the projected area of the mysterious object and were now looking directly at it through the viewscreen on Funaho's ship. Strangely, it was like nothing they had ever seen before, yet somehow familiar. The object itself wasn't very big, registering two point three meters in length with a width of one meter. The material however was the strangest thing that the Funaho had ever seen. At first, she assumed it must have been solid rock judging by the way it absorbed and reflected light. However, her ship was showing that it was actually micro silicon crystals fused together. All in all, it achieved a slightly menacing look but was absolutely dwarfed by the Funaho's tree-ship. Especially unnerving were the slightly lengthy spikes that were randomly strewn across the body.

"It isn't very cute," Misaki replied somewhat distastefully, after Funaho could only shrug her shoulders and shake her head to answer Misaki's earlier question. 

Of course, Funaho could definitely agree to that.

"What do you suppose we should do with it?" Funaho asked her sister. The first queen was generally a very impulsive person, making decisions at a very quick pace that more often or not left those under her command automatically doing what she commanded rather than thinking about it themselves. However, one learned that her impulses were almost always better than a hundred analysts trying to come up with a decision in a hundred days very quickly, which made her an excellent intelligence officer.

This was, unfortunately, one of the few times that Funaho was stuck. On one hand she knew that left to its own devices, this small mysterious ship could do some very harmful damage. On the other, she was getting a very bad feeling about the looks and feel of this ship. The really bad thing about this feeling, though, was that her instincts said it was a no win situation. Something deep inside Funaho really wished that this thing would go away and never come back.

"What do your instincts tell you?" Misaki asked quietly, suddenly in one of her very rare serious moods. It took only a quick glance to tell Funaho that Misaki was having the same sinking feeling in her gut as she was. Their only problem now was which course of action would be the best. Destroy the ship and the originators would more than likely know that they had been discovered and either become more overt or more covert, both were equally bad. Bring the ship back to Jurai for study and it could possibly become the Trojan horse of earth legend doing irreparable damage to both the civil and military population.

Funaho sighed and looked at her sister for assurance at the same moment her mind made up a decision. 

"We must destroy it." Funaho said flatly. "We cannot risk whatever this thing might carry to anyone. If we destroy it, we likely will find out whom or what has made it because they will most assuredly know we have discovered them."

Misaki nodded her assent with a set expression on her face. Only for a moment however, as soon as the second queen was querying the weapons systems and locking the target her lips grew into a smile that was showing her teeth, though her expression remained deadly.

"I'll teach you to mess with my Jurai." Misaki mumbled as the target was established and the permission was given for Funaho's ship to fire. The ship's life was ended in a rather anti-climatic implosion as the weapons of the ship encountered no resistance and ripped its hull apart. In fact, there was even a lack of any debris, which made Funaho fall even more ill at ease with the situation. Ships just didn't disintegrate like that unless they were meant to do so.

Despite all the confusion that she had been receiving from her ship though, and considering all the uneasy feelings that she had been getting ever since they encountered the strange ship it still came as a huge shock to Funaho when she suddenly lost mental control of her own tree. For one mind-bending moment, Misaki and Funaho were suspended in midair then dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, as gravity was re-established. The two queens had no more time to look dazedly at each other before second wave of disorientation rocked Funaho to her core and the world around her began to spin violently.

Misaki was by her side in an instant despite the lurching ground and was somehow keeping steady on the heaving ground. In an instant the nausea was gone and Funaho found that she could stand, with the aid of the second queen.

"What was that?" Misaki asked worriedly, trying to do a visual check on her sister's health before the next episode could occur. Though she seemed to be physically fine, Funaho felt anything but as she stood uneasily on two feet, putting most of her weight on Misaki. Before she could answer though another wave hit her, this time in the form a searing pain inside her head. Funaho could barely bite back the scream of pain as wave after wave seemed to pass directly through her body with the focal point being her mind. The mental pressure of whatever was attacking her was so great then that Funaho fell to her knees clutching the sides of her head. Fortunately though, she only had to deal with a few moments of the splitting pain as her mind gave up on the pressure and the blackness of unconsciousness over took her, relieving the pain.

The virus that was introduced through the hull of Funaho's ship did its job quickly and did it well. After the primary target was disabled, it was programmed to compromise the link that existed between all the royal ships. To do that, however, there was still one obstruction: Tsunami. To that end, the virus was tailor designed to adjust to the biology of a dimensional being and use it as a base to spread more of itself throughout the network. Fortunately, killing was not its goal, only disabling so as the first signs of reaching the benign Juraian saint the reaction was mild but effective.

The virus first insinuated itself inside Tsunami's mind, the one place where it would have access to the entire network of Royal Trees. The first thing that the goddess felt was a splitting headache, much like that experience in Funaho, which drove all thoughts but that of pain from her. As it rapidly increased in number before Tsunami could even be aware of what was attacking and counteract it, the virus slowly disabled more functions that the goddess had. Soon, the lovely spirit was sinking to her knees in pain all her thoughts bent towards protecting the last barrier she had in her mind, the link between herself and Sasami.

In a strange twist of fortune, the one barrier that Tsunami had left was the one barrier in which the virus never attacked. It was programmed only to disable the goddess, then to proliferate down the link until all ships under the network were closed down. It neither took into consideration, or was programmed to recognize and outside link that was not related to its objective. Though, with as closely as Tsunami was linked with Sasami there was the progression of symptoms that the girl felt. So when she suddenly feinted at the dinner table from a terrible headache it caused great commotion.

Ayeka was chatting reasonably well with Sasami when the little girl began to sway as if she were beginning to feel dizzy. Though her first reaction was that her little sister was just tired from the last minute touring that she had done with Kiyone, it soon became apparent to Ayeka that something was going terribly wrong. That realization came, however, mere seconds before Sasami clutched her head tightly and shut her eyes in pain. This lasted only seconds and Ayeka had only moments to reach beside her and prevent the child from falling backwards as Sasami's eyes flew open then rolled back into her head as unconsciousness overtook her.

Tsunami was disabled, the link lay open before the virus and the network was at its command. With numbers swelling, reaching countless trillions it surged for the open portal in Tsunami's mind and with lightening speed overtook the first of its many targets. The first ones encountered were those that had the strongest links with Tsunami, the first generation trees, the offspring that came directly from the zeroth generation tree itself.

There were relatively few first generation trees alive in modern Jurai. Funaho controlled one, along with its twin, Misaki's ship. Funaho's tree had been the ship that was encountered first and had already been disabled which left only two. Misaki's tree and the Emperor of Jurai itself were the only others that had been linked with a living first generation tree. Within minutes of the first encounter with Funaho's ship, its strong link with Tsunami unfortunately speeding the process beyond comprehension, these two ships came under siege from the virus.

Misaki was the first to feel the effects, perhaps because of a closer bond between her ship and herself in combination with the tentative link between her and Funaho's. Misaki, as the head of the royal bodyguards was naturally a serious martial artist. She was used to pain, and had over the many years she had been practicing had even acquired a slight immunity towards certain types of pain. However, when the headache first struck her mind it was like nothing she had ever felt before. It felt like a fire was burning bright and hot within her brain. The normal techniques for bypassing pain were useless against the affront. Despite all that, Misaki did not scream or even yell out. The only outward sign of the inner struggle taking place was her wide, dilated eyes and the occasional tear falling from her dark pink orbs. Inevitably, the conscious effort began to weaken and the second queen could feel the blackness coming forward.

"Oh…oh my." Misaki uttered as her body began to fold itself on top of Funaho as the last defense to mental trauma asserted control over all her motor functions. The second queen was out in less than two minutes.

For Ayeka, Sasami collapsing was bad enough. The room in which she was in had fallen into confusion since the youngest princess collapsed. Everyone was either trying to find someone to help or was scrambling uselessly about the room, yelling that the princess had taken ill. Sasami was bad enough, so when her father, the Emperor of Jurai, doubled up in pain and began clutching his head madly it sent the room into a state of confusion that went beyond insane. Doctors began arriving only moments after Asuza blacked out, yet went straight for her father, bypassing Ayeka and Sasami for the moment.

"What are you doing?" Ayeka yelled at the top of her lungs, straining her voice to reach over the turmoil of the room. "Princess Sasami is here and she needs help as well. You can't all work on the Emperor!"

Ayeka continued yelling, completely unwilling to leave her sister's side, until she caught a doctor's attention. It was almost worth it to see the shame on his face as the young man ran over and began to examine Sasami. Now that the medical staff had arrived, things were beginning to quiet down. Those who were not helping were sent from the room and the doctors arranged for the Emperor and Sasami to rest on several gathered pillows, making them as comfortable as possible. The quiet, however, was not meant to last long. 

When the virus had completely infected and disabled the first generation links and with unnatural speed began to divide rapidly again. Once the numbers were to the bursting point for the hosts that were not used to such infection, the offspring surged down the weaker links from Tsunami that comprised the second and third generation trees and down. All over the empire, Royal Treeships were disabled and their pilots sent careening towards unconsciousness. The speed in which the once mighty Juraian Empire was disabled would shock and confuse future analysts. For within the span of only a half an hour all ships connected to the network that Tsunami had established eons ago were disabled and non-responsive to any requests, their pilots all but useless. All command ships, comprising a full one-third of the Juraian fleet was now useless.

For one princess, the lone member of the royal Family still awake and functioning, the next few hours were the most enlightening as well as frightening hours in her life. It was during this time that Ayeka began to realize the vastness of the people who completely relied on her father. Every minute it seemed that some noble or another was demanding an audience with her, or a panicking palace official would come running into her chambers with yet another emergency.

To the Princesses credit, Ayeka handled the situations well, and with a confidence in herself and her decisions borne of necessity. Unfortunately, even for the best leaders there comes a point when one has to delegate to someone or be hopelessly swamped with the sheer amount of things to do. With all the upper nobility still unresponsive there was no one with the authority or the tile that anyone would listen to. Even in this emergency, Ayeka was disgusted to find that some of the lower nobility refused to listen to those of equal rank, despite it being in their best interests to do so. Still others, she was certain, held machinations of their own for a quick rise up the political ladder.

Princess Ayeka sucked a quick breath of air through her clenched teeth as she tried hard to think of anyone that held a title of authority that she could completely trust. A moment later a person sprang immediately to mind. Someone she trusted implicitly, who held a title of nobility that no one could supercede. But how would she be able to get him here? Would he even **want** to come here, knowing what it was he had to do? The latter, it seemed, was an easy question to answer because Ayeka knew this person's heart very well. But there still remained the previous question of getting him here.

Making up her mind very quickly, Ayeka ran down the hall to the communications room, resolutely ignoring the string of people that followed her shouting their questions. When she entered the quiet comm. room she locked the door behind her. As she switched the channel on, Ayeka prayed that Tenchi would have enough sense to use the galaxial receiver that Washu had installed in the Masaki's dining room years ago when the normal earth channels proved to be too boring.

** *

"Sir," a voice broke the complete silence that permeated the bridge. "It seems as if the virus has made contact with a vessel. I'm getting no reading from the beacon; I assume it has been destroyed as designated?"

A nod was all that the Captain of the ship gave to the officer monitoring the beacon's progress. If the probe had been destroyed by the intended person then it should take no more than a few minutes to knock out the most important areas of Juraian civilization. It was merely a matter of sitting back and waiting for the effects to take place.

Though he was by no means a very patient man, especially when it came to the tribulations of war, the captain certainly did not wish to disobey the direct orders of the priest. If he was told to wait, then he would wait. Of course, that didn't mean that he had to like it, or that he couldn't make sure that Urchoíd was ready for the mission he was to do.

"Urchoíd?" he voiced in a raspy fashion, activating the speaker that would automatically make sure the boy got this command with his hand.

"Yes?" The quiet answer came almost immediately, presumably from the boy's room.

"Are you ready?" the captain asked, certain that he was but still feeling like he had to do something doing this interminable waiting period.

"Yes." Was all that was said before the link went dead. The captain just shook his head. A month in that temple had changed the boy. He could remember a time when Urchoíd Dorchacht was the pride of the military. He had received all the training one could possible receive all because of so superstition about golden eyes. Though the grizzly old shop captain didn't believe in superstitions anymore, he had to admit that the boy was a natural. A more skilled warrior he could not imagine anywhere else in the entire fleet. Then came that damn call, the call that brought Urchoíd from the military, where he belonged, to that damned temple in the capitol city. After that, Urchoíd had become quiet, reserved and less likely to use fighting force when unless absolutely necessary. Such a thing wasn't natural, it wasn't natural at all, he thought.

Sitting in the small room that had been provided for him during this journey, Urchoíd meditated on the mission that was at hand. He preferred to keep the room that he was in dark, as his eyes had adjusted to the constant darkness of Lady Tokimi's hall. As a result, he alienated several of his former brothers immediately. No one liked walking into a dark room. Yet, try as he might, the thoughts of peace and a successful mission could not come. He was constantly thinking of things these days, something that had both disturbed and frightened him. Lately, it seemed, images of another boy around his age began to appear. They were like the dreams he used to have of another opposite of him in every respect, yet this boy was in a style of clothing he did not recognize. Gone were the flowing white robes and the green banners that flew as if in a wind, even when there was none. Gone also were the three triangles of power on the forehead, whose light had haunted his dreams. This time, the boy was dressed in a simple brown work tunic with black pants. A happy smile replaced the grim determination he remembered from dreams past.

Is this the same man? Urchoíd thought to himself quietly. Perhaps this champion transformed as he did only when he was performing a service for his patron. Such things Urchoíd could only wonder at, and be more confused if he tried to ask Sagart about them. The old priest had not been very forthcoming with much knowledge of late, simply responding to his questions with a basic "you'll understand, in due time young one."

Urchoíd sighed and opened his eyes to the slightly lighter darkness. That answer had begun to wear his patience thin. Yet, it seemed, that Lady Tokimi wished it that way. Though he could hardly fathom a guess as to why she would wish to keep her champion in the dark about his future enemy. The mere fact that he existed was enough for everyone around the young cephean but himself. Hopefully, this mission would provide a few answers. Then, before he could think to bring any other thoughts of the mission to the forefront of his mind, the com link activated again and the raspy voice of the ship captain filled his ears.

"Urchoíd, it is time. You know what to do. You must penetrate the defense ring around the planet and then descend to their royal palace. In your ship you will find a map of the palace that will guide you to the nursery. We must have a seedling of one of the trees if this plan is to work. We have already given you the means to penetrate the defense ring in the form of a mechanical micro-virus. Once on the planet you are on your own. Failure will not be permitted." Then the link went dead, leaving Urchoíd to contemplate the final sentence on his own.

After a few minutes, the young cephean got up and exited his room, making immediately for the small launching bay that was on the giant ship. The small carrier that was to be his vehicle to get into the Juraian planet was extremely small, having only enough room for the engine and the cockpit with not much else. It was black in color, as all things the cepheans made, with irregular lines that were specifically added to prevent any sort of detection device from giving an accurate reading. Just running his hands over the dark material and Urchoíd could feel the unpleasant journey ahead of him. It was a long, long way from the outer reaches of the Jurai system to the planet itself.

Urchoíd sighed softly, and then entered the ship. Within moments he screen in front of him lit up with the standard instruments, as well as permission to begin the mission whenever he was ready. Within moments, the small black craft had expertly backed out of the bay doors and begun the long journey towards the small blue dot in the center of the viewing field.

"Sir, we're reading minor fluctuations within the navigational computers. Difference of point oh oh nine percent detected." The young Juraian officer turned to his superior and gave him a quizzical look. They had just run a diagnostic on this very computer as early as yesterday. It shouldn't be that far off yet.

"Didn't we run a diagnostic and calibration test on that computer?" The older officer asked, already beginning to think that some young recruit shirked his duties again for quicker leave.

"Yes, Sir, I supervised it myself."

"Well, run it again, let's see if we can't fix the problem before anything serious happens." A difference of point oh oh nine wasn't bad yet. Though in space terms, even the smallest difference could have a direct bearing on where you were going. For the ring of satellites that surrounded the homeworld, an exact positioning was crucial to stay in the stationary orbit as well as keep from colliding with the other satellites that were in extremely close quarters.

"Diagnostics and calibration tests running," the officer spoke and began reading off the different values on the screen to be compared with the set of values that were supposed to be there. Just as the test was finishing, a red alert began flashing on the proximity computer. The officer spun over to the device and looked at the values amazedly.

"Sir, now we're reading a small object closing fast. About to pass us in…two minutes," once again he turned to his superior for help. "This can't be right, sir. I've got a visual on the area right now and nothing is showing up. No heat signature, no reflection from infrared. Nothing!" 

"Damn cheap politicians," the man in charge mumbled to himself. "Utterly sure that nothing will ever pull another Ryoko and ever come close to us that they do not provide adequate technology to maintain these heaps of junk. I'm sick of it." The frustrated officer banged his fist against the arm of the chair he currently occupied. "Shut it down, all of it. Reboot the complete system in five minutes."

"But, Sir! We'll be completely defenseless!" the younger man shot back, too surprised by the order to maintain proper discipline. "It will take an estimated 30 minutes for all the satellites to come back online once the reboot sequence is given. We'll be under emergency power only."

"So be it," the officer fired angrily. "If those damn politicians want to have a protected planet then they better give us the damn money to support ourselves. Now shut it down!"

"Yes, Sir!" The young man snapped to attention in his chair, then turned to locate a small shield surrounding the main power switch. They would be offline for almost forty minutes and have only enough power to maintain orbit and life-support. Although he was hesitant at first at such a radical procedure, the orders were not to be disobeyed. So with a sigh of the inevitable, he disengaged the shield and flipped the switch. 

All around the planet the lights on the satellites went out one by one, and the main controlling sphere was blanketed in darkness before the reassuring hum of the emergency generators came on and small lights, barely enough to see by, came on.

"Now all we have to do is wait," the commander said in a quiet voice before leaning back into his chair. He would have a few choice words to share with the committee at the next budgetary meeting, but until then there was nothing he could do but try and fix this glitch as fast as possible.

Unnoticed by the now silent satellite defense ring, Urchoíd's ship slipped into the atmosphere of Jurai and quietly made its way to the capital city. Under the cover of darkness, his ship drifted easily within walking distance of the palace itself to find a spacious landing area within the darkened royal gardens. A mere moment later, the young cephean stepped onto the grounds of the Jurai Royal Palace and entered as stealthily as he could. As he disappeared into the grand halls, following the map that had been committed to memory he wondered just what his lady wanted with a tree seed anyway. He was so distracted by that pervading question that he failed to notice a small sensing beacon on the right hand side of the wall and walked right through its silent trigger.

It started with one guard suddenly appearing before him. Then it became two, then three and then many more. Urchoíd stopped in his tracks and wondered at the strange soldiers before him and wondered how they had found him. This time, however, the thoughts didn't distract him enough, so when the first man lunged at him he was ready, with as many guards as was no appearing, though, the young warrior knew he was in for a long hard battle. Anyone who witnessed the battle would later recall the amazing fact that no knight was killed as the young stranger slowly pressed his way to his goal, silently and efficiently.

** *

Kiyone slowly opened her eyes, only subconsciously aware of the annoying ringing sound coming from the wall beside her. Only when it registered in her mind that that particular sound was an urgent message indication did the ex police detective come fully awake.

"Yes, 'Gami? What is it?" She asked of the blank wall at the headboard of her bed. Belatedly, Kiyone wondered what time it was, and how much longer she had to go before Yagami arrived at Rukbat.

"Timing indicates that we have less than twenty standard minutes until arrival at destination point." Yagami intoned.

Kiyone's eyes, which had already begun to slowly close again while Yagami was talking, suddenly flew open wide. Twenty minutes? Why in the world didn't Yagami wake her up earlier than this? As it was she was going to have very little time to get ready before she would take her ship off of automatic and begin the landing sequence.

"Why didn't you wake me sooner, 'Gami?" Kiyone spared a moment to glare at the spot on the wall where the link was as she ripped the covers off of her bed and bounded off the small dais that designated her sleeping space. The ex officer did not like being rushed into things, and she certainly wanted to make a good impression on her uncle after she docked, though from experience, Kiyone knew her uncle was very tolerant on dress codes unless someone was operating the heavy equipment. It still helped to dress nice every now and then, though.

A marked silence came from her ship that Kiyone had learned to interpret as a sigh and as close as a plea for patience that a machine could get.

"I have been currently trying to wake you for over a half an hour." Yagami finally said pointedly, making Kiyone look towards her feet in shame. Though she had to have been really tired to sleep through Yagami's repeated attempts to wake her. Normally it took only the first summoning to wake her up.

"Sorry, Yagami." Kiyone said quietly as she shucked her top and bottoms while walking over to the small closet that stored all civilian clothing now. Once there, she experienced another brief pang of sadness as the various colorful clothing revealed themselves at her word. There was a time when most of the items in this closet were uniforms with only the occasional nice civilian outfit for the rare times she went on shore leave or the even rarer date. Now, looking at the slowly expanding amount of casual clothes she had still had a sobering affect on her.

Finally, after only a few moments of sad reflection, Kiyone chose a modestly casual pair of teal slacks and a white blouse that always went well with everything she had then quickly dressed herself. The ex-detective only devoted a few more moments to make her hair presentable before she traveled to the bridge of the Yagami. As if on cue, the second she walked in the door Yagami's interface unit appeared from the ceiling and informed her that she was being addressed by the planetary landing authority.

"This is Rukbat Planetary Landing Authority tower two thirteen dash A. We have you on a visual now. What is your destination and cargo?" The voice that Yagami patched through at her nod sounded faintly familiar to her, though she couldn't quite figure out why.

"This is universal class ship Yagami serial number one niner dash alpha charlie seven, requesting clear course to Makibi Industries Engineering corp. landing pad B. I'm here on business with no cargo but myself." Kiyone replied, allowing the view screen on the Yagami's fore control panel to switch on and slowly begin showing an image of the controller that she was talking with.

"Tower Director Takabe Williams welcomes Detective Kiyone back to Rukbat and wishes her a pleasant stay. Please follow the marker drone to destination." Kiyone's eyes grew wide when the image of none other than one of her childhood friends appeared on the screen before her, albeit a lot more grown up than when she last saw him. With a humor as light as his hair and a soul to match his deep brown eyes, Takabe had always adored flying. Because of this adoration, he had gone to work for the Landing Authority at a very early age in the hopes of eventually crossing over into the local flight academy that used the same training facility as the LA. Seeing her friend again made Kiyone curious as to what had made him stay in the LA for so long. But ruminations about her past friends would have to wait for the moment as the marker drone appeared before her ship and began to lead off towards the southern continent of Rukbat.

"Kiyone Makibi thanks Director Williams for his kindness." Kiyone said officially, deliberately leaving out the title that Takabe had used earlier with her name. After all, he didn't know yet, though she hoped she would have some time to catch up with him later. Then as the Yagami reached the edge of radio contact with the tower Kiyone added their old childhood goodbye in a devilish voice. "Toodles, Wannabe." She added, using his old nickname just for fun then switched off that frequency as a strange gurgling noise and what she thought was someone in the background erupting into laughter came over the loudspeaker. Takabe's expression on the screen was priceless for her and she desperately wished it could have been recorded.

The expression on her old friends face managed to amuse her the rest of the short trip to her uncle's engineering firm. After a journey of only several minutes, the compound that was Tarmin's entire base of operations for his Galactic engineering firm began to spread out before her. As with any company that manufactures a portion of the engines, weapons, and defense shield generators for the entire galaxy, even a portion as small as ten percent the manufacturing facility had to be immense to keep up with the supply. To lighten the load on this particular facility, Tarmin had bought several finishing plants on planets of or near major accounts and shipped the raw engine parts there to be assembled. This saved him the cost of shipping the completed part long distances as well as saved the overhead cost for the buyer.

Kiyone took a few minutes, once the landing cycle had been completed, to collect herself and prepare to meet her uncle for the first time in almost two years. Of course, she wasn't scared to meet Tarmin, after all he was her uncle and the closest family she had. But despite that, there was an undeniable air of failure about Kiyone. She felt that in some small way she had failed her staunchest supporter by not fulfilling her dreams that he had done his best to encourage. With one final tug at her blouse, Kiyone finally stood up and made her way to the exit.

Tarmin Makibi had known the instant his niece had entered the system due to a tracker he had placed in her ship's engine. He really didn't want to pry into her life, but the signal would have been invaluable should something have happened while she was out on a mission. Of course, now that she wasn't working for the Galaxy police anymore, maybe it was about time to remove this protection of his. But all thoughts were placed towards the back of his mind as soon as the small portal that led into the Yagami began opening. 

As his niece's form slowly began to be revealed to him, Tarmin tried not to be judgmental or worried. She seemed to have gotten thinner since the last time he had seen her. His keen eyes also noticed that she now sported a few more worry lines around her eyes and mouth and because them appeared a bit older than before. Of course, it had also been well over a year since he had last seen her; maybe she was just maturing from the insecure teenager that had proclaimed her intention to enter the Galaxy Police Academy despite her flourishing educational career. Or even perhaps from the ripped apart and angry young woman who had sought him out during her mandatory vacation. He sighed to himself and shook his head silently. His little Kiyone had definitely grown up, but it seemed as if she were learning a lot of things the hard way which, while beneficial in some cases, he knew she didn't deserve.

"Kiyone," he said softly, with a friendly smile on his lips as his niece came close enough to hear his voice.

Kiyone smiled in return and then before he could make any other move otherwise, Tarmin found himself wrapped up into the tightest embrace he had been in a long while. Constantly in tune with his niece's feelings as he was, Tarmin sensed that there was something slightly off kilter with the young woman who had become in all respects his daughter. His suspicions were confirmed when the shoulder that she was resting her chin on began to feel wet. Quietly, Tarmin let Kiyone cry herself out, idly running his rough, callused hands through her long teal hair.

"There, there dear. I'm sure everything will be fine if you just give it a little bit of time." Tarmin told Kiyone softly in her ear as the younger woman's tears slowly eased. The old engineer counted himself as a strong man, able to deftly handle more stressful situations than an average being, however when his niece removed her head slowly from his shoulder and looked at him his resolve easily melted. The cry session had resulted in the whites of Kiyone's eyes to become lightly red rimmed and the beautiful aqua color of her iris's to darken with emotion.

"Do you think so?" Kiyone asked hopefully, with so little confidence that Tarmin regarded her worriedly for a minute. His beautiful niece had been one of the most confident and sure persons he had known. His protective instincts flared briefly and violently like a match suddenly finding tinder as he thought about the situation and the people that caused it that reduced her personality to that of an unsure teenager. It took all the will power that he had to bring his simmering temper back under control and to force a smile on his face.

"Of course I do, dear." He said through the most comforting smile his current mood allowed. "In fact I know what we can do, how about we get your things settled into your room then I can introduce you to the team. They've been really dying to meet you, you know."

Kiyone smiled shyly then, and rubbed the stray moisture from her eyes. Her uncle Tarmin knew her so well; all she would need to get over her sadness was a little bit of something to do. Being introduced to the engineering team that she would be working with would accomplish that well. In fact, it gave Kiyone such a good feeling that before they had even finished unpacking her things, she was already talking about her time spent on Earth and Jurai with a smile and even an occasional musical peal of laughter.

Kiyone never packed heavily for any trip, and her personal belongings which had been on the Yagami in storage since she left the Galaxy Police Headquarters were soon unpacked and placed with loving care around the suite of rooms that would now be her home. They weren't extremely large, which would have made the ex-detective nervous, but the rooms certainly weren't what she was used to at HQ and on the Yagami. The suite itself was situated on the top level of her uncle's headquarter building, just down the hall from his own extensive suite. The top three floors, which compromised all the quarters of the live-on staff all varied in size and style to suite the many different cultures that Tarmin had under his employ. Kiyone's suite featured an extensive porch that could be accessed from either the bedroom or the main room that overlooked the huge bay to the east. The porch also was strategically placed to catch the most sunlight in order to allow a garden of some considerable size and diversity. The master bedroom itself could have encompassed her small suite at the GP HQ and featured a grand bed tucked into a corner, with the headboard facing the glazed porch door to catch the early morning sunlight. Further exploration of her new home proved that it sported a sizeable kitchen, though her culinary skills were nothing to write home about and two guest rooms just in case she had friends staying over. The decorations were all tastefully selected in her favorite shades, with everything blending in with almost impossible perfection.

"I think we're going to have to get you more personal things," Tarmin commented as she finished placing a small plaque over the white stone fireplace. Kiyone's items had taken up so little space that the rooms still looked slightly empty to his eyes.

"Do you think so?" Kiyone asked sincerely. Yet, she still slightly disliked the idea of buying so many personal items, most of this stemming from either previous lack of space or budget to buy many items. Her small collection seemed to fit so well in their own places, however, that she almost felt as if her uncle had always intended this suite to be hers, despite her being with the Galaxy Police for so long.

"Hmmm, we'll consider it," Tarmin said enigmatically, as he put the final touches to dust and polish a picture frame that had been placed prominently on the low table. "But I certainly feel that we have kept your new co-workers waiting far longer than they should have to meet you. Shall we go?" Tarmin offered his arm to his niece and palmed the door open, looking back at her expectantly.

Kiyone smiled, and then hooked her left arm through his proffered limb. With one final look into her new home, she silently smiled and closed the door and allowed her uncle to lead her off in a different direction than they had come. Throughout their trip down winding passageways and well lit corridors, Kiyone glanced to her left and right memorizing the way back to her apartments and listening to her uncle talk about the various engineers within the group that she would be working with. Her interests had always been defensive and offensive weapons, which traditionally held only a small but prestigious place in her uncle's company. Secretly, Kiyone held the opinion that her uncle had always expected or hoped that she would come back and work for him and as such held a position open that had never been filled.

After a short walk down the corridor that contained her room and a lift ride to the third floor of the large building, Kiyone and her Uncle stepped out onto the research and development floor. Here was where the heart of the company was, the place where just about everything had its start. There were four sections to this floor, each with its own separate key card entry to make sure that nobody was where they weren't supposed to. As weapons and defenses were in the furthest from the lift and the most heavily shielded section, Kiyone had a key card that was able to access all aspects of the floor. Each barrier she came to she had to re-insert her card and punch one of four special six digit numerical codes on the adjacent key pad which was prompted at random by the computer. If at any time the key code asked for did not match the code on the card, this area could be sealed off in seconds, and along with a special detachment of private security guards that would make sure that she didn't escape. If all of this seemed a little bit paranoid or a lot to remember to Kiyone, she just had to stop and consider what exactly it was that they were doing on this floor and what it could mean if it fell into the wrong hands.

Finally, all the barriers were passed, and Tarmin led her to a small door on the right side of the hallway simply marked, 'Weapons and Defense Dept.' He gave Kiyone a wink and a smile and then opened the door, allowing her to see inside the office. It was not exactly what she expected. The office floor was covered wit papers balls of every imaginable size and shape (some even a vague attempt at paper animals). There were no individual cubicles for her teammates. Instead there was one large conference area off to the side of the room and enclosed by four glass panels, inside which was placed six comfortable chairs and a medium sized table that already seemed to have seen its fair share of instant meals for the day.

"Everyone…everyone please gather around I have a new addition to the team to introduce." Tarmin announced softly, in a voice that Kiyone was sure would carry to all of the members in the room. She was surprised to find that his voice brought instant attention from everybody no matter what they doing and soon there was a group of four men and one woman standing in front of her, all with expressions of varying interest directed immediately towards her.

Kiyone instantly felt an uncharacteristic moment of shyness coming on as her uncle introduced the team members one by one and then added a little bit of their background. Most of the team was a bit older than she was, probably as a result of working here for over ten years, with the exception of one fair haired man who seemed about her age and the woman, who, strangely, looked even younger than she was.

"Kiyone, this is the Advanced Weapons and Defense Systems team." Tarmin continued on, oblivious to Kiyone's discreet withdrawal into herself. "On the left, the charming 'young' man with the blue coat is Dr. Makoto Chen. He was a graduate of the Jurai Inter-Planetary Research Institute, top of his class of course. He has been working with us for well nigh on fifteen years now. He also works part time at the local technical university as a professor in their advanced engineering department."

Kiyone took a few moments to regard Makoto. He was a slight man of only about one and a half meters or so with a collection of thick brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush since the last galaxy formed. He had slightly brownish skin and very intelligent looking brown eyes that quietly returned her stare with idle curiosity all set in a face that wasn't unpleasant to look at all considering his age. It was obvious to Kiyone that her uncle's reference to young was a standing joke of some kind as Dr. Chen looked well past half a century in years.

"Standing next to him is his graduate assistant, Jamus de Laplage." Tarmin indicated the fair- haired young man whom Kiyone had earlier surmised was close to her own age. "Because his final thesis is on the subject of cold fusion fuel cells he was allowed to access to this engineering team as an intern."

Kiyone did not spend too long regarding Jamus; she found that he had a gaze that was quite disturbing. True, he was certainly not unpleasant to look at because the smile he seemed to wearing softened the hard nose and squarish face a great deal and even encouraged her to smile back shyly. But eye contact was almost impossible to hold as his light blue eyes that gazed at her from under thick blonde bangs gave Kiyone the most unpleasant feeling that her very soul was being surreptitiously judged. Fortunately, her uncle moved on to the middle-aged gentleman in a somewhat off-white lab coat and her gaze gratefully slid from Jamus's.

"After Jamus, in the lab coat is Dr. Jack Okuda. I'm sure, however, that you and Dr. Jack know each other well." Tarmin crinkled a smile at his old friend and then cast a sly glance at his niece. Indeed, Kiyone knew Dr. Okuda very well, as he had been a frequent visitor to the Makibi household when she was younger.

"It's such a wonderful pleasure to see you again, sweetheart," Dr. Jack said through a wide smile as Kiyone ran up to give him a hug. "It's been too long."

"I know what you mean," Kiyone added as she disengaged from the hug. "The last time I was here you were working down in the domestic vehicle department. When did you transfer?"

"I have been here for just about a year now; I'm very surprised that your uncle didn't tell you." Jack threw her uncle a severe look, but was it was completely disarmed because Dr. Okuda couldn't stop his smile from widening even more.

"It must have just slipped my mind," Tarmin shrugged. A lot of things seemed to slip his mind recently. Just before Kiyone could catch his less than humorous answer, however, a small noise made in the throat interrupted Tarmin's thought pattern. "Ah, yes. On to the introductions, I do apologize about that. Sorry about that."

"The last two engineers are Drs. Hitoshi Hakuda and Megumi Hayashi," Tarmin indicated the older Hakuda and then the woman standing next to him. The last two, Kiyone could not fathom like the others. Dr. Hakuda seemed to have a closed expression on his face as his coal black eyes regarded her from under a thick bowl of jet black hair. If Hitoshi's expression was unreadable, Kiyone immediately recognized Megumi's vaguely hostile glance. She was actually quite a striking woman, if one could get over her slightly down turned mouth. Her light brown hair and elegant green eyes complemented the golden skin and slim figure well. But Kiyone was still surprised to see someone so young in the engineering group, despite Jamus who was an intern. Megumi had a full doctoral, yet looked a few years younger than her.

"Megumi was one of the youngest in history to graduate from the Academy with a full degree and she is simply put one of the most brilliant minds in the local system." Kiyone's uncle put in suddenly, as if he could sense Kiyone's wonderment about the girl. "She's only been working her for a few months but I already know I can expect great things from her." To Kiyone's eyes, Megumi straightened her shoulders and positively began to glow under her uncle's compliments. There was no way this woman could be after her Uncle...could there?

"Well, I suppose that now that everyone has been introduced we should continue on our tour of the facilities, right Kiyone?" Tarmin cut in, interrupting the ex-detective's thoughts before they got on the wrong side of polite.

'Yes, of course." Kiyone smiled at her uncle and shot one more glance at Megumi, just to make sure that its implications were made clear. She smiled satisfactorily when Megumi's eyes narrowed slightly. With the exception of Dr. Hayashi, Kiyone felt that it would be a very pleasant experience working for this team. They all seemed quite competent at least, though she would have to spend some time on that Jamus. If she spent too much time in his company, the experience might be made unpleasant.

By the time that her uncle had taken her all over the grounds of his company, Kiyone was sure that her feet would fall off. She had just enough energy by the time she had reached her suite to shuck her clothes off and crawl under the covers. Despite her lethargy, however, Kiyone did not get as restful sleep as she had wanted and spent most of the night tossing and turning, haunted in her dreams by piercing light blue eyes. Finally, though, her dreams left her and the skin on her face relaxed immediately, allowing her conscious to fall into a deeper sleep.

** *

Tenchi was just walking into the kitchen area when a sudden beeping noise was heard, coming from the dining room. It didn't quite sound like the phone, but had enough similarity to it that he curiously peeked into the darkened room, wondering if someone had moved it again. After his eyes adjusted to the absence of light, he caught a faint red blinking spot on the back wall that had often featured Mihoshi's favorite inter-galaxial television program when the family was eating. Another ring, emanating from that general direction reminded Tenchi that Washu had installed some sort of communications device within the entertainment circuits that allowed all of the television shows to be shown on that wall.

Unfortunately, Tenchi could not remember how to use it. He had only seen it used several times before and really hadn't been present when someone started a conversation so it was lost upon his mind as to how to activate it. By this time, yet another ring had gone by and the light on the wall seemed, to Tenchi anyway, to be growing brighter and larger. Cautiously, he approached the wall until he stood directly in front of it. Then, desperately because the rings were becoming quite annoying, he spoke to the wall.

"Hello? This is the Misaki residence." He spoke quietly, aware that he looked rather silly talking to a beeping wall. Fortunately, though, his voice seemed to be the trigger as the unit beeped a final time in a different tone from the ringing and then an image filled the wall. While he was contemplating the operation of the device though, it never occurred to Tenchi to wonder who would be calling, so it was still quite a shock to suddenly see Ayeka's head appear almost three times as large as it was in real life.

"Tenchi? Is that you? Thank god you happened to be around." Tenchi had never quite heard Ayeka using that tone of voice before. It seemed to him that she was under a great deal of stress, a surmise bellied by the fact that with her head three times as large he noticed her eyes had taken on a red tinge that disagreed with her natural crimson pupils.

"Yes Princess Ayeka? Is something the matter?" Tenchi asked, beginning to grow concerned about the princess's appearance. "Is Sasami alright?"

Ayeka sighed and shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, she's not alright. Neither, it seems, is half the royal palace. I'm afraid it's a real long story Tenchi, one that I can't quite explain it all over this call so you'll just have to trust me."

Tenchi nodded quietly. This sounded really bad.

"Tenchi," Ayeka continued, once the earthling boy had nodded in acquiescence. "Please, this is very important. I need you to come to Jurai immediately. I have already dispatched one of the fastest ships that we still have operating so it should be there within a day. The crew has been ordered to see to your every comfort, but their primary function is to get you here as fast as possible. I hope that a day is enough for you to get anything you might need here together because I don't really know how long you might be needed. I can, however, provide anything you need just in case."

The entire time that Ayeka was speaking, Tenchi was trying hard to listen with his full attention. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to get much past "come to Jurai." She needed him to come to Jurai? Immediately? How in the world was he supposed to be able to pack for that in one day? What in the world was he supposed to do there? Though something about Ayeka's comment concerning the fastest ship she still had operating filled his brain with dread. Something must have really gone wrong, which further confounded Tenchi's mind because what was a simple priest's grandson from earth supposed to do about a major emergency on one of the most important planets in the Galaxy?

"But Ayeka!" He began in protest, more than a little overwhelmed. But he only voiced those two words out before tears began to fall from Ayeka's eyes. 

"Please, Tenchi," she pleaded, more tears building in her eyes. "Everything has gone wrong, my father isn't well and Sasami is out as well. I have no idea where my mother and Funaho are or even if they are all right and to make matters worse I think some nobles are trying to take advantage of this tragedy. I have no one else to turn to, no one else that has the blood of the Jurai Royal Family that I can trust. I need you here."

Tenchi, overcome with surprise over the scene he was witnessing before him could only nod silently. "I'll come Ayeka. Somehow, we'll make things right I promise." He added quietly, when he found his voice again. It was worth the trouble to him to see Ayeka's face suddenly brighten with a smile and her hand reach up to wipe the stray tears from her eyes.

"Thank you Tenchi. Thank you so much. I'll be waiting." After that, Ayeka pressed a switch out of Tenchi's view and then the screen went blank. All at once the tension in Tenchi's shoulders let go and he shrunk down to sit on the dais that the Masaki dinner table sat upon. This was something totally out of his experience. He had just barely been able to deal with Kagato years ago, and that was only by a combination of a miracle and a power he had never really learned how to control. Now he had made a promise to someone he cared a great deal for and he had no clue as to how he should fulfill it!

If Kiyone had been sitting beside him at that particular moment, she would have seen the answer to her question earlier. The situation that surrounded the young earthling had seemed at odds with Tenchi's personality, especially regarding the female residents of the Masaki household. However, in that moment, sitting on the dais in the dark, Tenchi displayed the reason why. There wasn't much she could do; he knew that but that fact didn't stop him from making his promise to Ayeka. He would make things right, somehow, someway, he would force everything back into its rightful place.

With the courage that comes with conviction, Tenchi stood up in one smooth motion and squared his shoulders. There was a lot to do before that transport arrived sometime tomorrow, he had things to pack and then, perhaps, have a talk with his grandfather to see if the elder Juraian had any sage advice to give. Tenchi quietly balled his hand into a fist and shook it, for once in his life absolutely sure of what he had to do.

"So, you're going to go then, aren't you?" A soft feminine voice spoke from immediately behind Tenchi. He was so wrapped up in his ruminations that the young man hadn't even seen Washu arrive.

"Yah!" Tenchi exclaimed and took several steps back before he regained his composure. The he suddenly became shy, despite his earlier convictions, and cast his eyes down to the floor and nodded silently. "What choice do I have?" he asked of the resident scientist, who had still not returned to her general form of a child.

"You could stay and be here when Ryoko wakes up," Washu said simply, and crossed her arms over her buxom chest. "I know she would really like that." Then Washu muttered under her breath. "Besides, she would probably try and follow you to Jurai as soon as she found out."

Tenchi shook his head and looked up at Washu, catching her eyes. "I can't do that, Washu. Ayeka needs my help, and while I don't know if there's anything **I** can do personally to solve her problem, I promised her."

"I see." Washu commented, wondering at the strength behind his words.

"Besides, Washu, is there really anything I can do here?" When the scientist shook her head sadly, Tenchi continued doggedly. "All I would do is sit around worrying and waiting, which is hardly productive. I don't even know how long I'll be. I might even be back before Ryoko wakes up." Somehow, though, Tenchi didn't believe that statement, especially if he read as much as he did into what Ayeka said.

By this time, Washu could only nod silently. She knew that Tenchi had to do what he had promised, but Ryoko was still her daughter and the fact that Tenchi wouldn't be right there beside her when she woke up would upset her even if she chose not to show it. She wanted her own offspring to be happy and considering all that had happened in her life she deserved some happiness, but in this situation, Washu knew she could not win. Tenchi had a strong heart that was well placed; he did not make promises lightly.

"You feel like you can really do something there?" Washu asked in one small last attempt at convincing Tenchi to stay and making her daughter happy.

Tenchi nodded in reply, looking Washu directly in the eye. The scientist turned goddess could feel the plea for understanding radiating from his brown-eyed stare.

"Then you don't have to wait for a transport. I've got something that will get you there much faster."

Tenchi's expression softened immediately. "Thanks, Washu."

Three hours later, Tenchi was fully packed with just about everything he could carry and that he thought he would need. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about much more than a few items of clothing as necessities went. Though Tenchi had thought to bring the entire complement of his textbooks. He really didn't want to but the studious, responsible side of him knew that he could be gone for a while and with the first college entrance examinations coming up in just a few short months it would not be good to fall behind in that department.

Tenchi had also sat down and had an extended talk with his grandfather who, strangely, seemed rather pleased that he had elected to go to Jurai. Even though it had been over seven-hundred years since Katsuhito had been on Jurai he still could remember almost every silly rule of etiquette and had filled Tenchi's head with everything that the elder man felt it prudent to know. There were even some things it wasn't necessary for him to know, like how in the world was he supposed to find a little bakery right behind the palace that made these special little pastries that his grandfather had not had in seven hundred odd years?

"Are you sure she's going to be all right?" Tenchi asked as he stood before the giant tube of water in which Ryoko was suspended. Physically, the former pirate did not seem to have anything wrong with her. Unfortunately, however, Tenchi only scrutinized Ryoko's body long enough to determine that she wasn't wearing any clothing and then turned away, lest the nose bleed gave him away.

"She'll be fine," Washu answered, slightly off to Tenchi's left and tweaking with a small device. "Ryoko is perfectly capable of functioning without any of the gems, if a bit less than her…perky self. What caused her to black out this time was the shock of loosing the energy all at once within a split second of time. The backwash was just too much for her to handle." Washu shook her head slightly. There was of course nothing stopping her from waking Ryoko up right now. However, Ryoko wouldn't be able to function at even a quarter of the level that she was used to previously with one gem. That meant that her daughter wouldn't be able to fly, teleport, or even summon her sword for more than a few minutes to a half an hour at most, depending on what she was also doing at the time. The scientist knew that unless she could find an alternate source of energy for Ryoko, it was pointless to wake her up, so she had deliberately kept her under stasis until such time as a new source for her energy could be found.

With a final click, Washu snapped the small device she was working on together and handed it to Tenchi, who took it curiously.

"This is my special transport device. It works by building up a local tear in the fabric of space/time, just enough to let the person who's wearing it inside, then with this computer here," Washu pointed to a medium sized computer console complete with keyboard and monitor terminal. "I will calculate the telemetry of where you will be going and transport the entire tear to that spot. Once there, the fabric will re-open and push you out. It all takes roughly between five to ten seconds to complete the process so you will have to hold your breath for that long as there is no oxygen in the medium that holds the fabric in shape."

All during Washu's explanation, Tenchi could only nod his head at the confusing words that she had used. Most of this stuff wasn't even known to the most brilliant research scientists on earth, let alone a high school kid without any college experience yet. However, if it worked and it got him there as fast as possible, Tenchi was willing to put his faith behind one of Washu's inventions. She had never failed yet during a serious situation.

"Place it somewhere on you where it won't fall off," Washu told him seriously. "If this device falls off, there's no way I can recover you."

Tenchi nodded and took a long breath, then clipped it to his pants and gave it a good tug for good measure. If it weren't for the fact that he had already promised Ayeka he would come, and the fact that time was definitely of the essence, Tenchi felt that he really would rather not use this device. But Washu had already turned her back as soon as she confirmed the device was on and secured and was typing away on the console that controlled the coordinates.

"Alright Tenchi, I have the coordinates locked in. I should be placing you somewhere within the old palace but beware that the Jurai Royal Palace is very large and very old as well as the map I'm using is more than likely out of date. I cannot guarantee where you'll come out but I want to place you as close to the princess as possible. Are you ready?"

Tenchi nodded once again then took a huge gulp of air in preparation for the airless void that he would soon be entering.

"Here it goes," Washu keyed in the proper coordinates and then pressed the engage button. For a few seconds nothing happened and Tenchi began to look around in wonder, then suddenly a jagged tear began to glow next to the unit and grow larger second after second. Within a matter of moments the tear was as large as he was and Tenchi could feel a vacuum begin to pull him into the black space that was in between the ragged edges. Several moments later he was gone from Washu's vision and a blinking red light tracked the unit's progress on the console as it rapidly sped across space towards its destination.

"Good luck, Tenchi." Washu whispered to herself as the blinking red light suddenly turned green, indicating that the unit had reached the entered coordinates. Then she turned towards the tank that held the sleeping Ryoko, just barely visible from the glow of its liquid. "I hope you come back soon."

Ayeka untied the sash the held her outer robe together and let the two sides hang open to reveal the form fitting silken inner robe. After the sash had been completely removed and folded carefully, she placed it upon the chair next to her. Ayeka then began to untie the thin inner sash, not for the first time wondering at the sheer amount of clothing that was contained in her formal attire. Just as the knot for the inner sash began to fall away a small glowing spot appeared directly in front of her. Ayeka's eyes grew wide as within a matter of seconds the small glowing spot sprung up into uneven line. Then, amazingly, the area around the line began to fold and wrinkle as if the back of Ayeka's room was painted on a sheet and it was blowing in the wind. Ayeka had just enough time to scream as a body was suddenly thrown out of the opened space between wrinkles and landed heavily against her, pushing her down to the ground with the body squarely on top of her.

An amazing sight greeted the guards that immediately responded to her scream when they barged into the room. Most of the guards that were selected for protecting the individual members of the royal family were selected on the basis of their loyalty, secrecy, and neutrality towards romantic situations. However, the latter asset came perilously close to being shattered as their eyes beheld Princess Ayeka lying flat on the ground; robes wide open right down to her undergarments. The surprise of this sight, coupled with the rather rare opportunity temporarily stunned the first to enter enough that Tenchi, breathing heavily and crouching on all fours above the princess, pinning Ayeka beneath him, was relegated to the back of their minds.

"T-Tenchi?!" In that small space in which the guards were dumbfounded, Ayeka's mind finally recognized the being on top of her. Upon the recognition, however, came new unbidden thoughts into Ayeka's mind. Now, rapidly driving back the fear that had initially taken hold of her mind came the natural embarrassment at this compromising position, but something more as well. Something deep down inside her, Ayeka thought, was welcoming this sudden occurrence with open arms.

The surprised exclamation of his name from Ayeka was enough to bring Tenchi out of the daze that the lack of breath had put him into and for the first time realize the position he was now in. Unfortunately for him, the exclamation was also enough to wake the guards up from their stares and within a matter of moments had closed upon the hapless earth lad and began to haul him off of the princess and out of the room gruffly, slightly bloody nose and all. 

"No wait!" Ayeka commanded, wrapping the robes around her body and trying to ignore the fierce blush that could be clearly felt on her cheeks. The guards instantly obeyed and paused, but they did not let their grips off of Tenchi's arms. "Let him go." Ayeka ordered curtly. "I was expecting him, although not quite in this manner." Once again there was immediate obedience to her orders, despite their mounting confusion over the matter, and then one by one each of the guards filed out of the doors leaving Ayeka and Tenchi alone.

The pair spent a few moments blinking at other, each trying to think of something to say in the wake of Tenchi's awkward arrival. Finally, Ayeka was the first to make a move by tying the sash of her outer robe tightly and closing the distance in between herself and Tenchi to give him a warm hug. The earthling immediately turned shy and blushed a deep shade of red before slowly allowing his arms to travel upwards, hands opened, to return the hug.

"Thank you so much for coming, Tenchi. But how did you get here?" Ayeka's confusion eventually wore through her elation at seeing the man she loved again, and she broke the hug to stare at him quizzically. "I thought the ship I sent wasn't even supposed to arrive at least twelve hours after I called."

Tenchi looked slightly embarrassed, but still wore a slight smile on his face. "Well, Washu kind of overheard our conversation and offered to send me here. It took me a few hours only because I had to pack and speak with Grandfather." Tenchi held the device that had been previously been clipped to his pants to show Ayeka. "It works quite well, really, but I would have rather been able to breathe while I was in transit. Washu said it would only take a few seconds, but it seemed longer to me."

Throughout the entire explanation, Ayeka just nodded her head with a soft smile playing on her lips. In the end it really didn't matter to her how he had gotten here, just as long as he was here and by her side she knew everything would be all right. Though something still weighed on her mind as she took in Tenchi with her eyes. He seemed quieter than usual, perhaps a bit tired as well judging from the red-rimmed eyes and the rings that had formed on the skin surrounding his soft brown eyes. It was almost as if something or someone, she added to herself, was keeping him from truly wanting to be here.

A slight fear overtook Ayeka at that moment. Was it possible that as soon as she left the barrier that was between himself and Ryoko went down and something happened? Perversely, however, Ayeka wanted to dwell upon that idea herself and really didn't think asking about it would be ideal. However, she did want to know how the household was in either case. She had come to miss Earth very much in the week that she had been on Jurai.

"How are the others, Tenchi?" Ayeka asked softly, withdrawing from his proximity half with fear that he would say something had happened between Ryoko and himself.

Tenchi's eyes dropped even lower and his shoulders dropped. It was still frustrating the hell out of him that there was nothing he could have done for Ryoko and Washu. 

"Not well," he simply stated then looked up towards Ayeka with tears in his eyes. "Something happened to Ryoko. I don't even know what." Tenchi shook his head and relived that night in his mind. "One moment I was sleeping soundly in my bed, and then in the next moment a scream woke me up. When I couldn't stand it any longer I clutched my hand over my ears and ran down stairs. I found Ryoko, lying on the steps in the darkness with her hands slapped to her head as if she were hearing something unpleasant. Before I even got to her though she fell and went unconscious. Washu still hasn't been able to wake her up."

Ayeka absorbed this information with difficulty. Something had made Ryoko go unconscious? Who in the universe could be as powerful as that? Especially with Washu guarding just about every entry point into the house?

"How?" Ayeka responded after a moment of silence. "How could something like that happen?"

Tenchi just shook his head silently, an occasional tear falling from his eyes. It was insanely difficult for Ayeka to watch Tenchi be so affected by the situation, yet she could only understand his feelings to well. In that moment, she decided to herself the most difficult decision she could ever make. Aside from leaving Tenchi once, which was incredibly painful, she was now going to allow him to leave her twice this time for the only other person that could hold Tenchi's love. She would find a way to deal with her problems by herself, and if she had known that this had happened Ayeka would have never asked in the first place that he come here. It was up to her to make it right, now.

"Ten…Tenchi?" Ayeka called and looked into the eyes she so badly yearned to see love and adoration for her and her alone reflect within. "Would...would you like to go back to Earth, to be with her?" 

At that time, Ayeka couldn't even say her name. She knew she didn't want to hear the answer that would come, but somehow it had to be asked. She couldn't just let him be miserable here with her and her problems.

Tenchi blinked several tears away from his eyes and looked at Ayeka with wonder. She was allowing him to go back, despite her problems? Despite the feelings that he knew she carried for him?

In a gesture that was extremely bold for Tenchi Masaki, he reached out gently and took Ayeka's chin within his hand and held up her face, which had fallen since her question had been asked. With his other hand, Tenchi softly wiped a tear from her cheek, gazing at the crimson eyes that along with a pair of golden ones had haunted his dreams for over two years.

Ayeka…" he began, but was allowed to go no further. For as soon as he opened his mouth for the next word a guard barged into Ayeka's room out of breath.

"Majesty!" The guard began between long pulls of breath, and tried to make an apologetic bow for the intrusion. "There is an intruder in the palace; we think he may be heading for the royal nursery!"

Ayeka and Tenchi looked at each other, so startled for the moment that neither could move. Then, as if they both agreed together at the same moment, Earthling and Juraian ran towards the door and the guard who had already began to run back down the hallway towards the commotion. In a matter of moments, Ayeka could hear the sounds of fighting taking place in the grand hall, only two chambers and a long hall away from the entrance to the royal nursery.

Beside her, Tenchi had already activated his battle armor with a small twist of the ring on his left hand. He was running with amore and more determined look in his eyes as they drew nearer to the grand hall. It only took Ayeka a moment longer to activate her armor with a mere thought, the green markings on her face glowing eerily with her growing anger.

All three arrived at the scene just in time to see a guard fly back hit the wall behind him hard then fall to the ground unconscious. A look down the hall provided Tenchi with a look at the strangest being he had ever seen. The man's face, for it definitely was male, was well tanned and vaguely heart shaped. Cold black eyes looked out towards the small army that was gathering before him and a small mouth scowled at the nearest guards. The frame wasn't very athletic at all, and seemed to Tenchi to be quite gaunt, with bone clearly showing through skin in several places. A call from Ayeka brought the young man's attention their direction and he brushed a lock of jet-black hair away from his eyes as he sized up the two newest arrivals.

"That is enough!" Ayeka yelled, barely even winded from her run down the hall. "I do not know who you are and where you come from but as sovereign ruler of Jurai I am ordering you to leave." Tenchi was stunned speechless by the rapid change Ayeka had gone through. Just a minute ago she was unsure, crying, and offering him a way out of his responsibilities here. Now, however, Ayeka was every inch the ruler, commanding her guard with stony determination and talking to the intruder in a manner that left chills in his spine.

Princess Ayeka's tone however, was lost upon the stranger as he cocked his head sideways slightly and blinked a few times, saying nothing. In an instant his manner changed and with a mighty leap towards the main group of royal guards barring the way down the hall, he cleared all of their heads. With as soft a landing as any cat he hit the ground and begin to run again with the guards hot on his heels.

Ayeka sighed softly, and furrowed her brow in concentration. Within seconds she was levitating off the ground, and then Tenchi watched with wide-eyed amazement as she sped down the hall faster than any human could run. Ayeka passed the guards easily, and then went over the head of the intruder before neatly twisting in the air and landing once again in front of him. Her eyes were deadly as she spoke again in a steely voice.

"I said leave, immediately. I will not permit you to go any further."

The stranger stopped for a moment and regarded her with a searching expression, as if trying to find the limits of her power and testing them against his own. In a split second he had made up his mind and charged, going from defensive to offensive quicker than Ayeka had ever imagined someone could do. He was fast, but not quite fast enough as the tip of the small light sword he carried bounced off her personal shield.

Ayeka just smiled grimly and stood at a stand still as the stranger set himself again.

"I warn you not to go against the power of Jurai; it is something that no force in the galaxy can withstand."

All of her strange words made no difference to the stranger as he attacked again, just as Tenchi arrived behind the guards, sweating from the full tilt run he had just completed. Apparently, all the fights with Ryoko that Ayeka had gotten into had trained her well, for the princess had no trouble dealing with the intruders varied kicks and punches even if they were coming faster and stronger than a normal human or even Juraian could muster. Tenchi was simply fascinated by Ayeka's agility and apparently so were the guards, who stood ready to intervene at any time but couldn't help staring at their princess.

After a few exchanges the stranger decided that he was going to get no where attacking the girl conventionally. He also assumed that any energy weapon would probably be a waste of time with the shield that she was equipped with. Truly, this young woman was a very powerful warrior and very high up in this strange planet's hierarchy. Although he didn't want to, he was now faced with the prospect of transforming and using the power of his patron saint in this quest, for the initial aim of stealth had melted away. Casting a weary eye towards the other warrior that had arrived with this female, both dressed in very different uniforms from the regular guard units. There was no telling what his limitations were, whether they were higher or lower than his current opponent was. The decision, it seemed, was made. He must transform if the mission was to be completed.

The stranger stepped back slightly and closed his eyes in concentration. The sudden change in his disposition caught Ayeka off guard long enough for him to complete his change. As she watched dark light begin to emanate from his body, Princess Ayeka stepped back involuntarily for the moment too worried to do anything. In a matter of moments the light completely enveloped the young man and he was gone from her view. Only seconds later, though, he appeared again dressed completely different and Ayeka knew that something had somehow gone terribly wrong. The intruder was now dressed in a black version of Tenchi's light hawk armor!

As the realization hit Ayeka, her knees began to feel weak and she could slowly feel herself lower to the ground, unable to support her weight anymore. The guards that had surrounded the pair by now slowly began to step back, fear showing in their eyes despite the fact that their princess was in grave danger. Only Tenchi stood still when the others pulled back too shocked at seeing another boy like himself to move.

The intruder, now fully transformed, noted the pull back of every guard and began to walk purposefully towards the hallway entrance that marked the official entry of the nursery. He had a mission to finish, and now that he was able to move freely without attacking anyone, it was time he finished it. But out of the corner of his eye, just as he was passing the woman she began to stand up. For a moment, he marveled at her strength, there wasn't any possible way she could stand up to the power he now wielded yet she was doing just that. Truly she was a brave fighter. Such a worthy fighter did not deserve death at this time; however she was in his way and not allowing him to complete his mission. With that thought in mind, the stranger lifted his sword and struck out towards Ayeka. As expected, his sword encountered her shield and amazingly Ayeka snarled as she poured all her strength and energy into maintaining it.

Endless seconds ticked by as Tenchi watched Ayeka defend herself. The princess had now thrown everything she had towards the one point of contact with the light hawk sword and it glowed hot pink with energy born from anger and desperation. His brow was sweating profusely and her face was wrinkled into an almost feral snarl for the second time in his life, Tenchi was truly afraid of Ayeka, a person whom he had come to care about so deeply in the last two years. He had never seen her this determined or powerful, even against Ryoko. But it wall all not meant to be, as no power in the universe could stand a large amount of time against power that was goddess given. Slowly Tenchi watched Ayeka's shield begin to break down and the sword inch towards her forehead. Another two feet and it would cut directly into her head, killing her. Watching the event, Tenchi's anger began to swell. He would not lose Ayeka now; he could not allow this person whom wielded the same divine power as himself murder the person he loved. It cannot happen it would not happen. As his anger built, Tenchi could feel power begin to radiate inside him and swell to envelop his mind. The familiar transformation into Tsunami's champion was beginning and he welcomed it with open arms.

Ayeka could feel her shield cracking, and even see small shards of power begin to break off around her. Anger built within her anew and she redoubled her efforts. There was no way this stranger was going to take her away from her Tenchi, just as he came into her life again. At this point she didn't even think of the nursery that she was protecting with all of her strength, all that was going through Ayeka's mind was the image of Tenchi touching her, wiping the tear from her eye, Tenchi holding her close and looking deep into her eyes. She wanted to feel it again, wanted it badly. Power came from reserves she didn't even know she had, the shield began to reassemble itself before her eyes and her eyes were mere slits against the bright power that she was defending herself with.

The stranger marveled even more at the woman in front of him. She was withstanding the pressure of his sword far longer than anyone should have been able to do. This young woman, more beautiful than any other he had ever known was also the most talented and powerful fighter he had ever faced and he had to strike at her. Frustrations built up within him and for a brief moment in time the binding force that his patron saint held him with began to crack. Why was he doing this? Why was he sent here to Jurai to steal a royal tree? What could his patron saint do with a royal tree of Jurai? But the crack only lasted a second in his mind. Soon the binding came back stronger than ever. She was his patron saint, she was his world, and he would accomplish this mission even if it left him gasping for breath and unable to fight for an entire year. He poured more of his power into his sword and watched grimly as it inched towards his target.

Tenchi watched as the stranger doubled the power pouring into his sword. He could feel the energy waves rippled out from the contact point of Juraian shield and light hawk sword. He knew that Ayeka's shield wouldn't last much longer and he knew that the princess knew that as well, yet still she tried to hold on, made every painful inch that the sword worked towards her a fight. 

Time then slowed infinitely as Ayeka's last reserves of power left her. She could hold the shield no longer and watched as the sword began to crack the shield again. In seconds that lasted an eternity for her, Ayeka watched as the cracks expanded then shattered all around her. The loss of her shield stunned Ayeka into freezing, yet she could still see the sward withdraw away from her and back as if for a death blow. She could hear Tenchi yelling beside her and saw from the corner of her eye the boy holding out his hands like he was throwing something towards her. As the stranger readied and through a strange force wave towards her, Ayeka closed her eyes and wondered why he had not attacked with his sword. 

The force never came, however, and Ayeka opened her eyes to the stranger staring unbelievably at a small white-blue shield resting in front of her. The power of Tsunami, she immediately recognized. Tenchi had stepped in and saved her life with the wings of the light hawk. Indeed, when she looked over to where the earthling boy was last he had completely transformed into the armor of Tsunami's Knight, the white and blue of cloth billowing in a breeze all of it own. Tenchi himself wore an expression of intense concentration as he directed the single wing away from himself and in front of Ayeka. When the danger immediately passed, Tenchi withdrew the wing and stared coldly at the stunned stranger in front of him.

"You deal with me now," he told the intruded coldly, and summed his light hawk sword to himself, then pushed it into an offensive position.

For all of the offense that the stranger had put up, he could only now just stare at the sight before him. This mission had gone completely wrong, there was no way he could make it out of here with a seedling with one of the goddesses champions guarding the exit. Why hadn't his patron warned him that this man would be here? He was supposed to be on planet called Earth, far away from here! The stranger pulled back at a loss of what to do and the compulsion to run was getting stronger and stronger in his mind. His patron had warned him against this young man, she had told him to stay away from him and gave him images in his dreams of this boy, images that had frightened him to his very core. Why had he not recognized him when he first saw him? 

"Tsunami's Champion," Urchoíd said in broken Juraian before the compulsion of his patron won out in his mind. With one mighty leap, he cleared the amazed crowd of guards and ran for the exit, for the first time in his life running from a fight, but not knowing why. The only thing Urchoíd knew as he jumped into the small carrier that had brought him here was that his goddess, Lady Tokimi, instilled such a fear of that young man in his mind that he could do nothing but run.

Tenchi came up, along with Ayeka and the royal guards and watched as the small ship took off and disappeared into the horizon.

"What do you suppose he was?" Tenchi asked Ayeka, turning to look at the Princess, now dressed in her normal robes.

"I do not know, but he wielded the power of the light hawk, but somehow different as well. His were black. I've never heard of anything like this." Ayeka let the fear and worry enter her voice, but only for Tenchi's ears alone. She was very scared of this powerful person, who seemed to be Tenchi's equal. She was worried about his agenda, and whether or not he was behind the recent events with her father and all other royals of Jurai. But most of all, she feared for Tenchi. When she was defending against his sword, she could feel his power and she saw in a brief instant, the depth of his power. Something like that was inevitably to face Tenchi once again. "I simply don't know." Ayeka answered again, and then leaned into Tenchi arms, for the moment wishing to be safe and sheltered from everything about her.

Tenchi swallowed the burning blush that threatened to overwhelm him once he felt Ayeka's soft body in his arms. Knowing it wouldn't be good to show his feelings at this time; he concentrated on being strong for the princess in her time of need and stared at the small point of light that was the retreating ship. Somehow, he would have to fight that person again, and he knew he must be ready for he had to protect Ayeka at any cost, Tenchi knew that with all the depth in his heart.

Unaware that he had unconsciously drawn Ayeka closer to his body as he was thinking to himself, Tenchi and Ayeka both watched the light fade to nothing in the star studded sky, together. If only for a brief moment in time comfortable and safe in each other's arms but both aware of the danger lurking in the near future. 

**End**

__

Author's end notes: Holy Tsunami, this thing took a long time to write! I don't know what to say other than I hope it was worth the time I spent on it and thank you to Kale for being the rock of a pre-reader! You're going to hate me for this one my friend!


	5. Sacrifices Part A

_Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV universe of "Tenchi Muyo!" All characters and technologies mentioned within are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer, profitable infringement is not intended. Original characters and ideas are the intellectual property of Garasu any unauthorized use is just bad manners._

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**Infinite Wills  
Part 5: Sacrifices  
Part A  
Author: Garasu  
**

                The sprightly singing of the birds filled the air, competing directly with the sounds of a broom running across a hardwood floor. Everywhere one looked, the signs of spring were deepening. The trees were at their best looking during this time, and the flowers that were carefully planted along the edge of a small shrine proper were in full bloom. It was a time that was most enjoyed by the young man sweeping the dust and debris from the stone pathways and the wooden porches that surrounded the Masaki Shrine building as well as the office that was adjacent to the huge, ancient building. The air was so fresh that the young man found himself guiltily taking breaks to simply smell the cleanliness of the mountain air and smile broadly at the feeling.

                Simply put, it was a perfect day to be outdoors, and the man had been glad to take the opportunity to do so. Since there were so few people down at the house that rested at the base of the steps to the shrine, he had even allowed himself his normal appearance, sparing him the stress of maintaining the visage of an old and wise shrine keeper. Nobody would be visiting him for some time, and for that, he was grateful for once. 

                A small frown appeared across Katsuhito Masaki's face, wiping the previous smile out of existence. It had become increasingly hard to maintain his image of Grandfather Masaki, and he had become more and more worried about the effects that were beginning to show with only the slightest amount of effort. It was as if he was strangely losing energy over time, though the Juraian Prince could not think of a reason why it would become so difficult for him to control his image. So many others from his home world had done the same thing he was doing and held the image for countless years at a time. Though of course, Katsuhito admitted, they were also supplemented by the powers of their spaceship tree, some with trees as low as fourth or fifth generation.

               When a thought process touched Katsuhito's mind suddenly, the ghost of his former smile returned to grace his now less wizened face. He should have known that she would have been listening in. Carefully, Katsuhito formed an image of his tree, Funaho, in his mind, paying close attention to the details of his former space-ship tree with loving grace. It was the best way the man knew how to show his love and appreciation towards the once mighty first generation tree. Over the past few months, his tree had been increasingly distraught over the changes that were taking place within him, and alarmed at her inability to help. Sadly, there wasn't much he could do to reassure his bonded that he was fine with what had happened, and understood what it meant.

                A quiet sigh was whispered to the wind as the priest once again returned to the task of sweeping the porches. He was certainly proud of his grandson for making a decision and going to help Ayeka, but he certainly did miss having the boy around for the menial chores that always needed to be done. It had been a long time since he had had to sweep the area. Another thought process touched his mind suddenly, and Katsuhito's smile tightened. Nobuyuki was home for the weekend again and as much as he enjoyed the company of his son-in-law, the man would more than likely be visiting him in the office for some time. Which of course meant more energy being released to make his disguise than he previously thought he would have to do.

                As calmly as he could, Katsuhito put up the broom and made his way back to the shrine office. There he would wait for the inevitable visit from Nobuyuki and the questions the man would have in regards to Tenchi. As the Juraian closed the sliding doors behind him, he only hoped that he would have enough energy to last the visit.

                "Hello? Anybody home?" Nobuyuki called out over the relative quiet of his home. It had been a rather strange week for him, which seemed to culminate in the fact that no one was now answering his call. While Tenchi's father had known that Princesses Ayeka and Sasami had left to go back to Jurai, along with that pretty police officer that showed up recently, he figured that any of the others should be still around.

                Nobuyuki carefully set down the package he had been carrying on the kitchen table before walking back out of the room to look for his son. It was highly unusual for Tenchi to leave without leaving at least some kind of note first, especially if he was leaving during one of the weekends Nobuyuki came back from the city. However, this time, opening Tenchi's bedroom door provided no clues to the boy's whereabouts.

                "Hello? Tenchi?" Nobuyuki called again, hoping that maybe Tenchi just didn't hear him when he called out from the entranceway. Finally, his call was rewarded with a distant sliding sound of a door and a definite feminine answer.

                "Mr. Masaki?" The distant voice came from the right hall where, if Nobuyuki remembered correctly, the shared room of Kiyone and Mihoshi was. "Is that you?"

                Moments later, a sleepy Mihoshi appeared from the general direction that Nobuyuki had guessed. The pretty blonde officer was rubbing her eyes tiredly and dragging her feet. It wasn't too hard for the elder Masaki to figure out that she had been taking one of her many daily naps when he had walked home.

                "Oh, Miss Mihoshi. Do you know where the others have gone off to?" Nobuyuki asked politely, waiting for the blonde detective to finish a massive yawn. He was rewarded with a rather cute pose from Mihoshi as she stuck her index finger in her mouth and thought about the question that had just been posed to her.

                "Umm, I don't think so. But I remember I was supposed to tell you something if you came home…I just can't remember what." Mihoshi turned her light blue eyes towards elder Masaki and gave him a quizzical stare.

                "Oh. Okay." Nobuyuki reached back and scratched the back of his head nervously. It wasn't as if he had expected an answer, but still, Mihoshi's memory was something that was definitely a hindrance to her at times. He wondered, not for the first time, just how she had become such a famous detective with such an apparent handicap. "Well, I suppose if he had to go somewhere, he would have told Father in Law right?"

                Mihoshi smiled at the elder man's logic and nodded her head. "Yes, of course! I'm sure that Grandfather would know exactly where Tenchi is!" The young woman struck another pose and regarded Nobuyuki once more. "When you do find out, let me know, okay? I'm going back to sleep."

                "Sure, Miss Mihoshi." Nobuyuki politely answered before walking down the main stairs. On an afterthought, the man detoured back into the kitchen to get the package he had brought earlier. "Might as well not let this go to waste," he mumbled under his breath and then shut the door behind him, intent on the Masaki family shrine that sat upon one of the many lush green hills delineating the edge of the valley.

                "Hmmm, I see." Katsuhito nodded sagely when his son in law explained the situation. "Yes, he was called away to planet Jurai, unfortunately. I believe it was something of utmost importance." The old man deliberately left out certain parts of the story, a story he for certain knew every detail of. It wasn't good to worry Tenchi's father unnecessarily, especially with details as troubling as the entire royal family of Jurai falling unconscious.

                "Oh." Nobuyuki didn't really know what else to say in reply to that. His son wouldn't normally just take off like that unless it was something very, very important, which bothered him for some time. A thought occurred to the middle aged man at that instant, however, that set his blood boiling in excitement. "Does this mean that Tenchi has chosen Miss Ayeka? Oh I knew he would! She's such a pretty young woman and so nice. I'm glad that he finally realized how he felt about her."

                Nobuyuki laughed to himself. To tell the truth he had been kind of worried about his son for quite some time. It wasn't everyday that one had three eligible young women living with you and all had at least a nominal interest in starting a relationship. The fact that his son hadn't chosen even after two and half years of the same routine going on day in and day out was beginning to make him think that he would never be able to have a grandchild.

                "Hmmm, I don't quite know if that's the case in this situation, but I certainly think it's a possibility," Katsuhito smiled thinly. He had been personally hoping that Tenchi and Ayeka would get together, and not just because of his guilt for leaving her so many years ago. She was such a sweet young woman and she deserved someone as nice as Tenchi to love her. The only problem that the former noble could think of was that while he had counted on the young man taming Ryoko, he hadn't really thought that she would be able to fall for him as easily as she did. The old man sighed; things such as love were always tricky to deal with. You could never count on it to do what you wanted it to do. Still, Katsuhito had faith that Tenchi would eventually turn his ears towards the sound of destiny; he just hoped that the fallout wouldn't be as huge as he feared it would be.

                Something caught the edge of Katsuhito's eye and his smile widened marginally at the expected gift. "I see, you have brought some sake from town. Is this the bottle you were telling me about?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. This is that single barrel Demon's Dance sake a friend of mine gave me for doing a little contracting work for him. It's excellently aged. Shall we?" Nobuyuki held out the bottle and two small sake cups. If there was one thing that his father in law never refused was good sake, and this stuff was one of the best.

                "Certainly." Katsuhito held out his hand and waited for the clear strong liquid to be poured into with patience. However, just as his son in law was handing him the carefully poured drought his hands began shaking uncontrollably. The old man tried to fight it off with all his considerable mental strength, but this time it was just too strong to hold back. 

_Not now! _Katsuhito thought violently, trying to hold back the change. He was too tired, too low in energy though to hold it back any longer. His disguise would start slipping any moment now.

                "Katsuhito! Are you all right? Do you need me to call anyone?" The sake was all but forgotten as Nobuyuki ran up to the elder man and tried to calm his shaking hands. Something was strange, he thought, as the hands of the elder man were clasped between Nobuyuki's. They felt strangely…ethereal, like the skin that was on his hands wasn't his own. "Katsuhito?" he called again, looking at the sweating face of the older man. What he saw in his father in law's eyes, and the rapidly changing facial features startled him enough to momentarily take a jump back.

                "Katsuhito, what's going…what's going on?" Nobuyuki asked loudly as the swirling got worse, he saw skin change from old a wizened to youthful and smooth in a matter of seconds. The changes looked to be taking place over the man's body: hair, old and gray now black and lustrous, wrinkles suddenly disappearing.

                Sake suddenly became very far on down on his list of things to worry about as Nobuyuki watched his old father in law transform into a man that looked much younger than himself.

                "Oh, dear."

****

*~* 

The slap resounded across the bridge, making most, if not all of the current officers turn towards the sound with surprise in their eyes.

                Urchoíd, for his part, stood his ground but yielded his face to force of the reprimand. If anything he deserved this punishment. His mission failed, a seedling of the Jurai trees was not in his possession and he was embarrassed in battle by running away from his opponent. There was no justification for his cowardice except for the trivial feelings of fear that he could not explain besides remnants of dreams that had been locked in his mind until he saw that young man. All of these made no difference to the old captain that stood before him, with the palm outstretched and beginning to show the redness that was associated with applying force to skin.

                Urchoíd looked down towards the floor, showing his ultimate willingness towards the reprimand, not daring to look into the eyes of his commanding officer.

                "Failed," was all the elder man uttered from his lips with a disgusted snort, "completely and utterly failed." 

                The young cephean could hear the voice of his superior rise with every word the man uttered. He became completely speechless and even cringed a little as the last word that was said was nothing more than a screech of rage.

                "I have never heard of such cowardice in all my days of serving Her Lady! It is utterly apprehensible the action that you took on your mission. What have they been teaching you in that temple? How to be polite, how to run away? I thought you were supposed to be the best, the 'blessed' one who was supposed to make our race great?"

                "I apologize," Urchoíd, muttered quietly, "I failed. I cannot explain my actions more than an incomprehensible fear that overtook me once I saw their great warrior. I thought I could handle the female, but she proved almost as much trouble as even the greatest of our fighters. I submit to your punishment." The young man kneeled before his captain, ready to take the just punishment he deserved. His patron, apparently, had different ideas in mind however.

                Just as the captain was about to strike once again, the lights dimmed low across the bridge, and the elder man suddenly looked up to find that the screen in front of him was now filled with the visage of an old man. The ship captain noted the flowing appearance of both the pure white beard and hair, the endless black eyes and the red jewel that rested on the forehead and instantly recognized the man for who he was -The Lady's accolade had come.

                "You may not touch this man again, Captain." The voice of Lady Tokimi's accolade, D3, echoed through the heads of all that were present on the bridge. "He is the chosen of us all and is above your petty reprimands."

                "Y...yes sir," the captain responded with fear shaking his voice. Urchoíd was instantly impressed.  He had known the rumors of the captain enough to know that nothing supposedly ever fazed the grizzled old man. To see the old harbinger of war reduced to a quivering mess was awe inspiring to say the least.

                "I'm glad that you have reconsidered," the face of D3 spoke once again, his lips never moving, and with a voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. "Your mission here is, disappointing, but not altogether unexpected considering the circumstances. You will return to Cepheus at once and we will consider this new development. This bodes to make things…difficult."

                "Yes, Sir." The captain, to his credit, returned back to the emotionless leader relatively quickly and began issuing the orders even before the face of the ageless man disappeared completely from view. "You, boy," suddenly Urchoíd found himself being pointed at with a wrinkled digit, "you are no longer needed here, please return to your quarters at once and we will notify you when we have returned."

                "As you wish," Urchoíd said and bowed to the man formally. He wasn't allowed to get reprimanded physically, but he had no doubt that the captain still intended to make the rest of this journey difficult for him due to the slight that this failed mission had caused. It rankled within the young man's mind that he would probably be held accountable for this mission, even more so that he could not be touched by the penal system due to his stature.

                The young Cephean sighed as his palm print allowed the door to his room to slide open. Sometimes, especially in such chaotic and confusing situations such as this, he wondered to himself just why he had answered the Lady's call in the first place. Of course, there was the service. He was raised to worship his people's patron saint, to accept any word that might be handed down from her as law. That much, at least, was instilled within his instincts so tightly that he may have had no choice but to answer her summons. Still, there was the beginning of a doubt to his purpose, especially when he considered the strange race he had just encountered, and the seemingly unimportance of a single seed from some type of tree.

                When he reached the small pallet that served as his bed, Urchoíd spread his weary body across the comfortable blanket and glanced around his simple room. On this ship he was granted his own room, a rarity that was reserved for those of upper officer rank, though he felt no feelings of pride at that fact. Even the young officers of the bridge crew shared quarters on warships. In the past, he had always enjoyed the comfort of solitude. Urchoíd was never much of a social man, as he always felt that he had been alienated due to his upbringing, a fact that was made even more apparent since his conscription by the Temple. Young men his age strayed away from him, or suddenly became quiet when he was around. Females were much the same way, although they allowed a little more fear to show in their eyes than the males did. Adults had always treated him differently when he was growing up, as if they expected him to be above the childish playing of children his age. As far as Urchoíd could remember he had had a duty to fulfill to the people of his planet, and never more so than now did the weight of all his people's expectations rest on his shoulders.

               Staring at the blank grey wall of metal that delineated his ceiling, Urchoíd fought the urge to seek someone out and talk with them. It was, decidedly a strange sensation. Yet, the young man knew that he could not do so, not until he was back within the safety of the Temple, and in the presence of the old priest, Sagart. Somehow, Urchoíd knew that the old man would have some answers for him, or at least some kind words that could point him in the right direction. He longed to share his encounters with the man who in all senses of the word had become his grandfather and confidante.

                Encounters…how best to describe the feeling he had course through his body the moment he first saw that mysterious warrior female? Amazingly, she had almost fought him to a standstill by sheer will power alone, even when he was giving his best. Attraction? The young man paused at that thought, but then thought better of it. Urchoíd knew from even the few encounters he had had with his own races' opposite sex to know when he was attracted to someone. It was more like doubt, perhaps. Doubt that anyone who could be so powerful and still be so beautiful - for he had to admit to himself that she was very physically pleasing – could be evil. The image of the young woman called itself up, unbidden to his mind's eye, and he spent some time considering her features. She was not too terribly different from his own people, with the major exception of her hair and eyes. She was thin in physique, almost lithe. It was easily apparent to his trained eye that she was in peak health and condition, despite the vague impression that she was perhaps of noble blood. Perhaps it was exactly her differences, though, that led him to remember her so clearly? It was the first time he had ever encountered a girl from another species so closely. Was it natural to be surprised, and perhaps a little intrigued? 

                Urchoíd stretched for a moment, breaking the image he had held of the female. He then closed his eyes in concentration, and tried to find some comfortable position in which to sleep. Too many things were going unexpectedly for him - that mysterious woman, the appearance of his equal, the doubts about his Lady's purpose; they would all have to be dealt with sooner or later he knew. For now, though, the young man felt a need to rest. He could talk about these things with Sagart once they were home, but until then, it would be a long and difficult week of traveling under the grizzled old captain. 

                Somewhere within the hours that Urchoíd closed himself within his room, the young man found the peace to sleep. Unfortunately, it was the first of many nights of troubled dreams and nightmares so that by the time the small warship reached its destination, Urchoíd had managed to form bags under his golden eyes and his hair, usually kept neat and combed, was slightly disheveled looking. People kept their usual distances from him, plus a spare few meters as he walked through the halls of the major spaceport, regarding the drab signs that broadcast store locations of all kinds. Being in the capital city, this spaceport was factors larger than the others that were sporadically located within the hospitable regions of his planet. The size tended to attract races of all kinds, from within the empire or outside. Urchoíd, however, wasted no time in picking his way through the crowds and exiting the terminal building, despite the many curiosities that his golden eyes picked up. He knew that the palace would send some form of transport for him, and that it would be waiting to take him to the Temple grounds, to which he could not get to quickly enough. 

                It only took a matter of moments to spy the plain looking vehicle that would be his. Palace vehicle were always the most drab looking machines anywhere, despite the current emperor's love of opulent things. As quickly as he could, the young man greeted the drivers politely and submitted his small amount of luggage to be stored. Within moments, he was inside and on his way to the place that had become his most recent home.

                The trip itself was uneventful, if a little bit short. Of course, this fact caused no lost disappointment within Urchoíd himself as he faced the Temple Façade for the first time within a month's period. Today, as always, Sagart was there to greet him with a warm smile and an affectionate pat on the shoulders.

                "Ahh, young Urchoíd returns to us," the old man finally greeted with his raspy voice. "And how was the mission, young one?"

                Despite himself, Urchoíd looked towards the ground, a frown set upon his face as his cheek suddenly blossomed in memory of pain. "I failed." The young man said simply, and then began to walk past Sagart with his shoulders dropped submissively.

Before he could pass, however, Urchoíd felt a gentle hand rest in his shoulders and apply pressure. When he looked up he was caught up in the most sympathetic gaze that he had seen in a long time. 

                "Why don't you tell me about it?" Sagart asked quietly, beginning to lead his young charge off towards one of the many gardens that they had used for conversations of this nature in the past. Sagart noted with some amazement that for as much confidence as Urchoíd appeared to exude, he was nothing more than an unsure teenager underneath. It had taken some time to get used to that idea, but the old priest had done his best to assure the young man as much as he could.

                "I'm not sure I wish to speak of it, father," Urchoíd muttered respectfully, aware of the fact that he commanded a large portion of the religious leader's time already.

                "Nonsense, young one," Sagart shrugged off the boy's reply and smiled warmly. "You can say that it is my very duty to see you, the chosen one, emotionally balanced."

                Urchoíd sighed internally at the reference to him being the chosen one. More and more, the pressure had begun to build within his mind that he had some greater role to serve, yet was incapable of doing it, or at least to the standards that his predecessors had done before. This was never more apparent to him, at least, after his great failure on Jurai. Still, his rational mind argued, it would maybe help to speak with Sagart about it, as he had originally wanted to. It would at least help him gauge and prepare for the reaction that his Lady would give him. To that though, Urchoíd could only shudder.

After a brief time spent following after the old priest, the par finally arrived at the garden that Urchoíd recognized as the original garden that he had talked with Sagart. The beauty of this small patch of green still never failed to amaze the young man as he and the priest stepped through the portal and into the golden light of the fading dual suns. It was still as green as he remembered, and the constant babbling of the small stream that bisected the small garden was soothed the young man's mood immediately.

"Now," Sagart started, seating himself with many audible pops of joints. "Share with me your adventure. I should think that Jurai at this time would be a lovely place." Sagart patted the seat next to him, and waited patiently as Urchoíd made himself comfortable, though the last comment that his companion made, made the young man temporarily forget what it was he wished to say.

"You mean that you've been to Jurai before, Father?" he asked breathlessly, confounded by the wealth of wisdom this elder gentleman seemed to possess. "I wasn't aware that anyone from our world had been there before." 

"They haven't…in a manner of speaking." Sagart answered cryptically, with a far off expression in his eyes. "However, we are not here to talk about the history of our planet," the old man smiled at the mild rebuke, "we're here to talk about why you feel you failed so miserably on your mission."

Urchoíd dropped his head to the ground, mumbling under his breath something just out of Sagart's hearing. When prompted by the older gentleman to speak up, the raven-haired Cephean met his eyes uncertainly. 

"I was hoping you would forget that, Father." He spoke, voice barely above a whisper. "I really do not wish to speak of it much." Urchoíd dropped his eyes once again and tried to concentrate instead on the soft green grass caressing his lightly shoed foot.

Sagart sighed and eyed his young companion shrewdly. "If I believed that, my young one, I would not be in the position that I am in today. Something is troubling you about this past mission, whether or not it is the actual failure itself," Sagart broke off and lifted Urchoíd's chin to allow the young man's eyes to meet his, noting unconsciously the momentary tightening of the boy's fist. When gold eyes met soft brown, Sagart caught the wisp of a thought and seized upon it. "Or perhaps…it's  something  else about the mission that bothers you, hmm?" He continued, after a moment's thought.

Unable to resist the powerful kindness that lay hidden beneath his mentor's eyes, Urchoíd found his mouth opening and closing rapidly, fighting his mind's first impulse to deny the priest's words. Slowly, his mouth won out, and he began relating the story from beginning to end, sparing Sagart nothing of his thoughts upon the meeting he had had with the female warrior and his equal.

Throughout the soft retelling, Sagart listened thoughtfully, revealing nothing but merely a fractional lift of the eyebrows when Urchoíd mentioned his thoughts on the two people whom most affected the young man. When Urchoíd stopped and took a long breath, he glanced down at the young man and gave him an encouraging smile.

"So, Tsunami's chosen has made a premature appearance?" Sagart asked, more to himself, than to the young man beside him. This information didn't particularly surprise him, though it could annoy his patron, once she learned of it – if she hadn't already. With a quick decision, Sagart chose not to comment on the Urchoíd's equal until he could speak at length with Lady Tokimi, but instead concentrate on the some the small indicators that he had picked up from the boy's speech on the young female. It was plain to him, being somewhat familiar with the society of Jurai that this young woman whom Urchoíd spoke of was probably a part of the ruling royal family, though her exact place he could not determine. It had been centuries since he had last familiarized himself with the family Jurai. When Sagart finally decided to speak, he hesitatingly reserved most of the details for a later conversation, thinking that he should once again consult with his Goddess before speaking to the youth on the Jurai Royal Family.

Sagart chuckled when he recalled the boy's light blush when he told of his encounter with the female royal. The striking appearances of the royal family must have been quite a shock to the young man, who was used to the uniform appearance of black hair and dark eyes.

"You found the appearance of the young woman pleasing?" Sagart asked through a raspy chuckle, which only increased in mirth at the boy's further blush.

"She was a great fighter, skilled and powerful," was all that Urchoíd found he could mutter, feeling the skin on his face flush with heat. When he finally collected himself from his embarrassment, Urchoíd glanced towards his mentor and gathered himself and opened his mouth once again, asking a question that had been burning his mind since first leaving Jurai. "Father, what exactly are they? Their power is significant, even in their warriors, and they have a patron goddess, so similar to ours. Why are we fighting them? There must be a reason for this battle, a reason to fight someone of such obvious power unprovoked."

Sagart sighed when he realized that he could no longer avoid telling the young man certain things, he wasn't exactly sure how much he should reveal, but the priest supposed that he could reveal a bit of information, just enough to keep the young man satisfied. He decided that he should first start with a subject that Urchoíd seemed to have a great deal of interest in.

"The Jurai," he began softly, getting the young man's attention immediately, " are a race that is very similar to ours, evolution wise. Though the primary difference in the way we interact with our patron goddesses are very different. Whereas our lord was granted a fraction of Lady Tokimi's power, it was his and his alone to use, only manifesting itself within his descendent once the original progenitor died. Having only one man with this power has created a peaceful society because it is almost impossible for anyone to wrest control from our lord."

Urchoíd nodded at the opening statements of Sagart. It was all common history taught to every child in school. One man, one power equals a peaceful society without fear of the civil war and bloodshed that shook the planet to its core during the Great War and the following extinction of their brother race. His thoughts instantly returned to Sagart as the old man continued with his history lesson, strangely enraptured with the tale.

"The Jurai, however, became something different. Their power was granted to the entire royal family, each descendent with a fraction of their Goddess's power. That fraction, of course, depends upon the bloodline of the family, with the direct descendents getting the largest percentage. The average populace, and indeed even the palace guards whom you fought do not receive anything." Sagart glanced at the enraptured youth, watching with satisfaction as the knowledge and its implications became apparent to the young man. "Which means," Sagart cut of any remark the boy was going to say by continuing, forcing Urchoíd to shut his mouth quickly, "that the young woman you fought was a member of the Jurai Royal Family. Furthermore, in order to survive as long as she did, I surmise that she is a direct descendent, possibly even the daughter or granddaughter of the Emperor himself."

Urchoíd could no longer force his mouth shut and he let it fall haphazardly as his jaw went slack from surprise. He had been fighting a member of the royal family? But then, if she was a member of the royal family, then did that mean that Tsunami's chosen was as well? If so, then why was it a surprise that he should join the battle so unexpectedly. Where else would he be, if not within the royal palace itself? With this new information, Urchoíd began to feel for the first time, that others around him knew more than he did about the situations they were forcing him to go through. Yet, still, why wouldn't Sagart have told him about their expectation of Tsunami's chosen to be there? Surely they would have known something as simple as that? Feeling his head spin with new questions, Urchoíd once again looked towards his mentor, preparing to speak out his confusion to the elderly priest.

"Yes, that means that Tsunami's chosen is indeed a member of the Jurai royal family," Sagart said quietly, throwing off Urchoíd's questions with a direct answer to his unspoken words. "However, the circumstance surrounding that boy are complicated, we were not expecting him to be there so soon. It even appears as if he might have chosen already." Sagart let out a sigh at his young companions expression. It seems as if he had created more questions that answers with this little talk of his. In fact, he was about to elaborate his cryptic comments further when he heard a loud bell tome through the hallways, echoing it's angelic ring throughout all the rooms and floors of the Temple. The evening bell had rung, signaling the proper time for the evening meal.

"We will continue this conversation some other time, my young friend. There is still much to discuss before you once again meet Lady Tokimi once again. But for now, however, it's time for the evening meal and then there comes evening prayers after. I'm afraid tonight is not a good time to finish the rest of this tale." With those final words, Sagart unfolded himself from the bench they had been sitting upon and walked quickly out of the room, leaving Urchoíd alone and quite confused. It was only some time later that the young man echoed his mentor's reactions and took himself to the great hall for the evening meal, not entirely convinced of his own appetite.

***~***

"Mommy!" Sasami called out joyfully as her mother came into sight, stepping shakily out of the small royal ship that belonged to Funaho. Injuries and confusion were scattered to the wind once the blue-haired second empress beheld her beloved daughters waiting for them by the entrance to the palace. 

"My little Sasami, Little Ayeka!" Misaki Jurai called back, waving her arms wildly and disengaging herself from her sister's supportive grasp. The trio met in a flurry of excited hugs that threatened to steal the breath out of the two young princesses. Despite the force being applied, however, Ayeka smiled brightly at the sight of the two queens, who had been missing for several days following the confusion of having every single royal family member collapse unexpectedly at once. It had only been by a miracle and Tenchi coming to save the day that had allowed Ayeka, who had mysteriously been unharmed during the event, to keep control over the scared palace grounds and its populous.

"How is your father," Funaho asked of the purple-haired princess, once she had caught up with the group, quietly allowing herself the pleasure of a brief but heartfelt hug with her half-daughter, once she was released from the crushing grip of Misaki.

Ayeka looked down, a frown crossing her facial features briefly before she returned her aunt Funaho's gaze levelly. "He just woke up this morning, and has not been in a good mood since he found out that you and mother went missing. Thank Tsunami you two are safe. We were so worried."

Funaho smiled at the young woman's sentiment, and nodded her head in acknowledgement, before crinkling her nose cutely. "I'm sure he was quite out of his mind with distress, don't you think, sister?" She turned to Misaki, who covered her mouth with a giggle and agreed with the brown-haired empress. It was then that Funaho caught the sight of a young man standing just at the threshold of the door, observing the reunion shyly, and her smile grew impossibly wider. Once again, Funaho turned to Misaki and pointed with her head, positive that her counterpart would catch her drift.

"Lord Tenchiiiii!" Misaki called out happily, forcing a scared expression upon the young man's face as she bounded over to him faster than any injured person should have been able to move and encompassed Tenchi in a bone crushing hug.

Ayeka winced with sympathy for her friend as soon as she heard the crunching sound that sounded suspiciously like bones rubbing against each other. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Tenchi was released enough so that he could greet the Jurai empress properly.

"Good afternoon, Lady Misaki," Tenchi greeted nervously, executing a polite bow, before turning to Funaho and repeating the same procedure. "It is good to see that you two are well after this scare."

Funaho merely smiled before turning to her half daughter. "When did Lord Tenchi arrive?" 

The first empress of Jurai was a very sharp woman, one of the sharpest ever as befitting the head of the intelligence bureau. As such, she definitely had her own suspicions about the circumstances in which the young man had come to Jurai, but she wanted to hear her half daughter speak the words, as if by vocalizing them she would finally be admitting the truth behind her feelings for the earthling. Her thoughts were immediately confirmed when the first princess blushed prettily and cast her eyes towards the ground.

"I… I asked him to come Lady Funaho. He was the only one whom the nobles had any chance of listening to because of his blood lineage to Yosho." Ayeka glanced at Tenchi briefly causing the brown haired man to blush a matching shade to Ayeka's before she returned her half mother's gaze resolutely. "I know that we were not to introduce him to the nobles until we could be certain they would accept him and his earth blood, but he was wonderful, mother. He has earned the respect of many on the council already for his sensible actions and quiet demeanor."

Tenchi's blush reddened even further at Ayeka's words of praise as he suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on his shoes. As such, he missed Funaho's appraising stare turn into a broad smile.

"I see that we were certainly right about you, young man," she spoke gravely, a hint of amusement in her voice causing Tenchi to shyly meet her gaze. "You have earned the gratitude of the Royal House and we are in your debt for the loyalty to our people and our family, that you have shown." The elegant woman bowed formally before giving Tenchi a dazzling smile. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm sure we have much to catch up on with our husband. Come along Misaki."

Funaho gracefully passed the trio, beckoning the cute eyed Misaki to follow her into the Palace. After several more rounds of crushing hugs, the second queen finally disappeared into the entranceway, leaving the two princesses and one prince alone.  

"This calls for something extra special for dinner tonight!" Sasami called happily, dancing her way around Tenchi and Ayeka. "I'm going to find Grandmother Seto and begin right away!" Within moments, the littlest princess had gone inside the palace, loudly calling for their grandmother in her excitement.

Once Sasami was gone, Tenchi looked over to Ayeka, and found, to his embarrassment, that she was looking in his direction. The Princess smiled shyly when Tenchi met her eyes and indicated with a small jerk of her head that they should walk in the direction of the platform fencing. He quietly agreed and the pair began to walk in the opposite direction of the palace, framed by the setting sun.

"Have I told you yet how fitting the Jurai robes suit you?" Ayeka asked shyly, once the pair reached the waist high fence that separated the palace landing platform from a sheer drop of several hundred meters. Tenchi merely blushed in response and shook his head.

"Well, they do." Ayeka added softly, running her hand lightly along the cool wood in front of her. "I know I've said this many times before now, but I can't begin to thank you enough for coming, Lord Tenchi. I honestly don't know what I would have done without your help here, these past two days."

"It was nothing, really, Princess. I was merely trying to do anything I could do to help. It is something I would do for anyone of you." Tenchi, said, lowering his head slightly to hide his blush.

"I…see." Ayeka mumbled, staring off into the distant fields of green and yellow grass. "Lord Tenchi? There has been something I've been meaning to ask you, can you forgive me for being bold?" 

Ayeka took a deep breath as she saw Tenchi turn in her direction once again, and nod solemnly. Then, she began softly, and with shaking breath to tell Tenchi just how exactly how she felt about him.

"I…I know that you care about us all, that you would do anything for anyone of us, should we require it. But I..I wanted to tell you that of anyone that I have met I care for you the most." She grabbed his hand suddenly, making Tenchi jump slightly, but otherwise show no other reaction. "In light of everything you've done here, I know you would make a great ruler, but I also know it's something you might not want to do. I do not care. I want to tell you here and now, that I want to be with you wherever you are, whatever you're doing. I love you Tenchi, and I want you to love me as well, more than any other."

Steeling all her courage, Ayeka pulled on Tenchi's hand and let her lips grow closer to his own. Seconds became moments, moments became hours as she felt his breath on her nose, her eyes cow closed against the last brilliant light of the sun. Then, as the last light glittered out of view, their lips met softly, the tears that came unknowingly from Ayeka's eyes mixed and tickled the skin on Tenchi's cheek. All too soon, however, it was over, and the pair broke apart, Ayeka keeping her eyes closed savoring the moment and longing with all her strength to here her words returned. Tenchi merely wore a shocked expression on his face and placed a hand to his lips.

"Ayeka…I," Tenchi began but cut off shortly, completely at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka prompted, when his silence became too great. Finally opening her eyes and gazing upon the man she had just confessed to.

"I…I don't know what to say," Tenchi began again, the expression on his face remaining. "I mean…I knew. I had to know with you and Ryoko and everyone acting the way they did. But, but Ryoko," Tenchi cut off when the tears began to fall from Ayeka's eyes faster.

"I…see." Ayeka began, backing away from Tenchi slowly, a fearful expression now set on her face. "Please, Lord Tenchi, please forgive me. I knew I shouldn't have said anything, I knew I should have just continued to hold it in, but I couldn't anymore. I just couldn't. Please, I hope you will forget I ever said anything at all. I need to go now, Sasami might need help with dinner." With that, Ayeka turned and ran towards the palace.

"Ayeka! Princess Ayeka, wait!" Tenchi called after the fleeing girl, but to no avail. He was soon left alone on the platform, watching the door she entered intently for a few moments before turning his vision to the stars above his head, just beginning to make their appearances in the dusky sky of Jurai.

"Screwed up again, idiot." Tenchi mumbled to himself, before turning towards the palace doors himself, walking into the darkness that he felt that he would never come out from.

**

End Part A

**

**_Author's End Notes: _**_Finally! I got something workable for Infinite Wills. If this seems like a lot shorter than usual, it is. I decided that since I am taking too long to finish this part and because part five will be quite long anyway I'm going to break this chapter up, and possibly the sixth as well into smaller parts. It's more manageable for me because I can check them over faster and I can also write them faster. I don't know, I guess I just feel more positive about this way rather than releasing one long part. I think I can make the updates a lot more manageable and faster. Let me know if you feel otherwise. ^_^_

_As far as for what's in store for later, Ryoko finally comes into play, and Kiyone gets a social life? Hmm, this could be interesting. Stay tuned for the next part of Infinite Wills – Part 5: Sacrifices._


	6. Sacrifices Part B

Sacrifices Part B 

**Infinite Wills**

**Chapter 5: Sacrifices **

**Part B**

**Author: Garasu **

"Ugh! This is ridiculous!" Washu threw down the small device she was holding angrily and stormed off into the darkness of her hyperspace lab. She had been working on the problem of solving Ryoko's energy needs for almost one week straight and still the answer did not come to the genius. In the beginning, the small pink haired scientist had thought it would be relatively simple, especially since she had recently gained a lot of insight into the workings of the universe since the incident happened. 

That thought train led Washu to release her breath in a frustrated sigh. The incident. It happened about the same time Ryoko collapsed for whatever reasons that brought the new knowledge and power to her own body. Silently, Washu summoned up the small gems that had once been the source of her daughter's power and watched the trio of glowing objects hover in the palm of her hand. She had tried to reject them, to fuse them once again to Ryoko's body but they had stubbornly rejected the action as if they had a mind of their own. Whatever the woman subsequently tried to do directly to the orbs inexplicably failed. Finally, Washu resigned herself to the fact that the gems were hers now, and a part of whatever changes had gone through her one week ago. 

Finding herself tired once again from her failures, Washu summoned a chair and sat on it dejectedly, staring into the watery world of one her many aquariums. As the small, drab inhabitants of the tank serenely floated in front of her, Washu closed her eyes and frowned. Sleep had not come easily to her this past week for obvious reasons. Still, with as tired as she felt, the eccentric scientist found herself wondering what Tenchi was up to. As of the last transmission she had received, the situation on Jurai was beginning to resolve itself, with most of the nobles awake and back to normal duties. She spared a brief chuckle towards the emperor, who had probably had a heart attack when he found out that Tenchi had helped run the show while he was out. 

Strangely enough, thoughts of the young man, who had managed to endear himself into her own heart, as well as the heart's of all the other girls around him gave Washu the extra push she needed to finally get some sleep. Slowly, in front of her specimen aquariums the scientist closed her eyes and drifted into the realm of quiet solitude...and dreamed. 

---

_ Washu._

_ Green eyes opened to a soft blue light as Washu slowly awoke. The voice that had called her name...it sounded familiar to the pink haired woman and she frowned in concentration trying to remember where she had once heard that voice._

_ Washu._

_ Washu turned around at breakneck speed, trying to determine where the voice came from. It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. "Who are you, where are you?" she asked of the mists surrounding her, a small amount of frustration seeping into her tone. Despite the unknown quantity speaking to her, however, Washu felt no danger, simply a lingering curiosity toward the invader of her dream._

_ Behind you, Washu._

_ The young woman turned quickly, once again looking to the direction she had been looking initially. To her surprise found a large tree that had not been there previously, slowly resolving itself with greater clarity._

_ The tree was a grand one, one that she thought would be more realistic being described in a fanciful novel, rather than real life. It was larger than any other tree she had seen before, and looked to be composed of a rough, light brown bark. The second thing she noticed was that the monumental plant seemed to be in the pinnacle of life -with it's large, healthy branches and soft green leaves liberally hiding the gigantic boughs that must form on a tree such as this one. Closer inspection, once Washu walked closer to the object, yielded the form of a young looking woman, sitting in the shadow of the great trunk._

_ At first glance, the woman appeared to be sleeping, but as Washu cautiously approached the stranger opened her eyes and returned Washu's gaze with a soft smile._

_ "Tsunami," Washu recognized a second later, calling her name softly in greeting. There was no doubt in her mind that this was indeed the Goddess and patron saint of Jurai. To put it simply, Tsunami was stunning, with both the combined traits of an adult Sasami and elements of Divinity, which naturally enhanced her physical beauty. Her soft, water blue hair was wrapped elegantly into a large pony-tail which, while the Goddess rested against her tree, was wrapped carefully around the front of her body, falling to the ground and pooling almost as naturally as water flowed. The light pink eyes, which returned Washu's stare, were kind and sweet, effortlessly showing both the mischief and intractable cuteness that she had inherited from her host body. Lastly, was Tsunami's always present robes, intricately crafted to be finer than any garment any tailor in the universe could sew in a soft white color broken only by leaves in mint green and a few pink baubles. The robe, of course, both accentuated the goddess's creamy white skin yet revealed very little of it, save for the innate knowledge that underneath them was a body that would be the envy of beauties everywhere. _

_ "Washu," the Goddess returned, smoothly, her smile widening. "It is nice seeing you again, Sister, though I prayed the day would never come."_

_ "Sister?" Washu echoed. Sitting lightly in front of her companion at the other woman's invitation. It had only just been vocalized before a thought pattern hit the smaller woman and everything was known in mere moments._

_ "Yes, it's all true, I'm afraid," Tsunami answered, when she saw the gleam in Washu's eyes. "Though I can only begin to fathom why our other sister saw fit to release your blocks at this time, or even at all."_

_ Washu only nodded; completely absorbed with the information that was now coursing through her mind. Belatedly, though, she voiced her one repeating thought on the matter. "I would have gladly remained ignorant for my daughter's sake."_

_ Tsunami nodded sadly, and brought up an image of Ryoko, still floating silently in the healing tube within Washu's lab. "Sadly, there is nothing conventionally that can be done for your daughter. Her unique method of obtaining energy and the amount she requires makes just about anything unfeasible." The Goddess frowned in thought when Washu lowered her head._

_ "However, there is an unconventional method which has now been opened to you." The Goddess added thoughtfully._

_ "And that is?" Washu asked of the following silence, urging the blue haired woman in front of her to continue._

_ "Your champion," Tsunami answered quietly, looking directly into Washu's eyes._

_ "My Champion?"_

_ "Yes. We, as major goddesses, are allowed to channel our powers and grant them to one special person of our choosing to further our cause in the physical plane. Our champions powers are the manifest of our divine powers, and drawn directly from us. However, due to the physical limitations of the mortal body, they are only capable of channeling half of our power."_

_ Washu sat quietly for a moment, digesting this information before speaking once again. "So that's how Tenchi is able to do what he does," she said softly, more to herself than to her dream companion._

_ "Yes, Tenchi is my Champion," Tsunami answered, unaware that Washu's earlier comments were more thinking out loud, rather than a question. "He's such a sweet young man, it isn't any wonder to me why Sasami is so infatuated with him."_

_ Washu blinked at the utterly innocent smile plastered on Tsunami's face. "Umm, if Sasami is infatuated with him, and you are in essence the same as Sasami, doesn't that make you infatuated as well?" She asked brazenly, finding a bit of her old humor once an answer to her daughter's situation had been apparently found._

_ It was almost worth it to see Tsunami's smile falter for a split second at the jibe._

_ However, like any good divine being. Tsunami had become quite adept at ignoring things, and she passed the joke off without so much as a blush before she continued smoothly. "Though for your daughter, I think things might be slightly different as she needs to channel the energy at all times to keep her biological initiatives running but not enough to make the Light Hawk Wings appear until she needs them."_

_ The Jurai Goddess frowned for a moment in thought, working things out in her mind._

_ "Oh, that shouldn't be any problem," Washu declared suddenly, breaking the other goddess's concentration. "After all, I am a genius as well as Goddess now. It should be a simple manner to design a power regulator in Ryoko that she won't have to use the power all the time. After all, I wouldn't want that girl running around with Light Hawk Wings all the time. She's destructive enough on any normal day."_

_ Tsunami giggled at her sister's humor, delighted that the woman was finally able to overcome her apathy towards the situation and regain some of her old personality again. She always was the least serious of the three. All she would have to do was teach Washu the rite of ceremony. Strangely, as the youngest goddess, Washu had never before chosen a champion, therefore knew little of the ceremony that would grant their chosen with their powers. She vocalized this fact as soon as the pink haired goddess took a break in her mental calculations for a power inhibitor._

_ "Then what are waiting for? Let's begin now!" Tsunami smiled at her sister's enthusiasm and leaned close to tell of the secrets just as a wind blew through the dream and ruffled the leaves of her Tree. _

--- 

Washu woke with a start, scattering the collection of aquatic life that had gathered near her to stare at the curiosity outside of their tanks. 

"Ugh, whatever I had for dinner I should have more of it soon," she intoned, rubbing her head to clear the sleep from her eyes. The dream she had had and the knowledge that she had gained from her encounter were enough to get her mind working in quick order and soon she was walking in the direction that Ryoko was, ready to begin the ceremony immediately. 

As she approached the healing tube, she regarded her daughter for a moment, frowning. In the nude, Ryoko was obviously good looking enough to turn any man's head. Despite her almost two thousand years of age, her skin was still that of only a late teen, emphasized by the light tan color and the smooth appearance. The snow blue hair that had characterized the so called demoness floated gently in the liquid that filled the tube, also allowing her daughter to float just above the bottom of the tank. As Ryoko did not need oxygen to survive, a mask supplying the gas was unnecessary, allowing her youthful face to show in all its heart breaking beauty. Should the closed eyes open, her golden pupils would captivate the souls of anyone who dared stare directly at them. 

Briefly, the thoughts of her daughter's 'physiological tactics' sent a small pang of regret through her, as the one person whom Ryoko would have wanted to see her in such a romantic light was not here at the moment. For that small moment, Washu almost toyed with the idea of waiting until Tenchi could return, and then wake her up. Only for a second, though, did the goddess consider that option. She knew that even with the situation on Jurai improving, the young man who held her daughter's heart in his hands would probably not be returning for a while. Perhaps even long enough to be significant in other matters of the boy's heart. It would be cruel for Ryoko to wake up to that image, and Washu knew it. 

With the decision made, she pressed the small button to her left that released the locking mechanism that kept the demoness asleep and watched as the healing liquid drained away and a small stabilizer kept Ryoko vertical. Once the glass lifted, allowing Washu access to her daughter, she gently raised herself up to head level and lightly caressed a well-tanned cheek. Then, silently, the elder woman brought Ryoko's head closer until their foreheads touched, mumbling the words taught to her by Tsunami and now recognized as the Rite of Ceremony. As the last words faded from the goddess's lips, a gentle light began where the skin of the two women's foreheads met and expanded. Though she could not see it with her physical eyes, Washu could sense the marks of power appearing on Ryoko's head in the image of three dots, forming a triangle. They were exactly where Tenchi's were when he transformed, and she could feel the power begin to slowly revive the energy starved systems in her daughter. 

Once all that was needed was done, Washu pulled back and watcher Ryoko wake with a small groan. Once the younger woman's golden eyes opened, they briefly looked around in confusion before her mind told her where she was. A spare glance at her daughter's forehead told the goddess that the marks were still there, ever marking the pale haired woman as a goddess's champion, but holding back the full power of the marks. She had to admit, the power inhibitor that she had installed in the spell with a bit of her new found knowledge had been a stroke of genius. The marks would always be there, but the full brunt of the Light Hawk Wings would only manifest when called upon in the heat of battle. They simultaneously fed her Ryoko power and limited it to only what was needed for the task at hand. 

"I'm such a genius," Washu mumbled happily, blocking out the small groan coming from the woman lying below her. 

"Spare me the ego, _mother _," Ryoko spat the title sarcastically as she sat up, rubbing her head trying to get the infernal headache that she was experiencing to lessen. "What happened? Why was I asleep for so long, where's my power gems?" The demoness asked her questions in rapid-fire succession, sparing only a minute to summon her normal household clothes with her mind, reveling in the feel of the cloth for a moment before she looked around. "More importantly, where is Tenchi?" 

Washu sighed. She couldn't help the feeling of dread that came over her as she prepared to answer all the questions, including the last one. 

_This is not going to be pretty _. The goddess thought before opening her mouth and filling her daughter in on the whos, whys and wheres that she had missed during her time spent asleep. 

  
  
~* * *~ 

  
  


"I can't sleep," Tenchi finally admitted to himself, as his eyes once again opened to gaze at the intricately carved ceiling of the guest suite that had been given to him. He had been tossing and turning for hours, never quite able to enter the blissful quiet of the mind that came with a deep satisfying sleep. All he could think about was the last few hours, ever since Ayeka had confessed to him. Dinner had been immediately after she had run from him, and that affair was a nightmare of uncomfortable looks from Ayeka to slightly unsettling anger from her mother, Misaki. Everyone else, Tenchi noticed, seemed to be either not affected or as in the case of the Emperor, not informed. The later of which the young man could only be thankful. 

Finally, after a few minutes spent trying to figure out what to do, Tenchi decided to go for a walk to help clear his head. He had done this numerous times at home on Earth, and despite the fact that he knew very little about the palace layout, the boy felt that he could always stick to the simple paths that had already been shown to him. It took only a few moments for the Earthling to throw on some loose clothing over his shorts before Tenchi was out the door and trying to find peace with his inner turmoil. 

Several hours later, it still had not been made clear to Tenchi just what exactly he should do about the situation. He knew that he cared deeply about Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, and all the others. More than he probably should, in fact. It was just that he didn't wish to hurt anyone, and no matter which way he looked at it, someone was going to be disappointed, and hurting deeply by the end of the situation. It had become so much of a burden lately, especially with everything that had been going on, that Tenchi had almost decided that he could never choose between the girls that had come to live with him. At least that way, he had reasoned, nobody would have to be hurt. They could all go on living the way they had been living for the past year and a half and everything would be great. 

Even as his mind considered that option and the great appeal it had, Tenchi knew it would never work. Despite his resolution of spending no more time with one person over the other he could feel his feelings begin to grow. It didn't help that the last week had been spent with Ayeka, and the fact that they had spent a great deal of that time simply talking. Tenchi admitted that he was beginning to know the Princess very well in light of the recent events and respect her greatly. Princess Ayeka was certainly someone whom he had never considered had so much depth to them. Whenever he had pictured the young woman he had always seen a confident, able person always able to find a rational way out of any situation. 

Tenchi chuckled to himself at the last thought, however. It seemed that no matter how he pictured her, she would always show exactly the opposite in front of Ryoko. There just seemed to be something that the demoness had that could shorten the fuse of the normally reserved princess in record time. Though he suspected most of that was just that the two were so equal in strength that after the first few months it became more of a training exercise or aggression outlet than honest anger. He also knew from experience that the two could collaborate with frightening results. 

Thoughts, however, were interrupted as Tenchi literally ran into a huge pair of doors. The doors, he immediately recognized simply by their size and grandeur were the entrance to the royal tree nursery. This was one of the first things that Sasami had shown him when he had free time to explore with the second princess. The doors, however, also brought back the memory of the strange figure that he had met the first night he came, the one that shared his powers. It was never determined just what exactly that man was, or where he had come from, but it was often thought that he was after a seedling by most of the security personnel. It was the only thing one could take from the nursery with just a single ship and one man, as the seedlings still had not formed enough of a consciousness to resist being removed, either. Nobody, however, had to theorize just how dangerous it would be with a royal tree under malicious control could do to the galaxy at large, even a tree of the second or third generation. 

Tenchi's curiosity reached its peak once a closer inspection revealed that the door was slightly ajar, perhaps from an earlier entrance. Wondering just whom else could be up at this time of night, the young man reached for the handle and prepared to lug with his entire might. To his surprise, the doors swung open with a simple light pull and Tenchi had to regain his balance quickly. Once the door was open, the young man peered into the room and upon immediately seeing no one, approached the small transportation pools hesitantly. The small blue pads, set into the floor and framed by a small white raised area greatly resembled small pools of water at first glance and Tenchi had only used them once or twice before. By nature, he was overly cautious of anything that scrambled his molecules. 

Slowly, the young man approached the small pad and stood on it, strangely trusting the object to know where to send him. That was, at least how Sasami explained it. The little girl had told him that it just 'knows' where you want or need to go and takes you there then shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she didn't know how exactly that happened. Sure enough, as soon as Tenchi began re-materializing he could see a figure sitting in the shade of a tree, leaning her back against the medium sized trunk. 

As soon as Tenchi fully appeared the figure looked up and smiled at him. It only took a few moments for the young man to recognize his great grandmother as he began walking up to the woman. Unlike him, however, it looked as if the First Queen of Jurai was not having trouble sleeping, as she was still dressed in the elegant robe, minus the mantle, from this evening's dinner. As her deep green eyes gazed at him, Tenchi approached slowly, encouraged that he was welcome by the broad smile the woman wore until he was standing in front of her. Nervous that he was standing over the most powerful woman on the planet, Tenchi kneeled down and gave his great grandmother a respectful bow. 

"Majesty," he greeted, at the lowest point of his bow. 

"Tenchi," Funaho returned, in between giggles at his formality. "I think you can be a little less formal, there is no one else around and we are family after all." 

Tenchi looked up from his bow and smiled at the openly friendly face of Funaho. Despite the fact that she was his great grandmother by way of his mother's side, the young man had always been amazed with the first queen's rustic beauty and once again he was not disappointed. The woman carried herself with the grace and poise of a true Japanese lady, showing her roots in not only her appearance. After a few moments, Tenchi blushed when he realized he had been staring and directed his eyes elsewhere, trying desperately to find a piece of conversation. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as Funaho spoke first. 

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked in the small silence that had developed after their initial greeting. Funaho smiled at her companion's slight nod and down cast eyes. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Ayeka, would it?" 

At Tenchi's second nod, Funaho's smile grew even broader. Her great grandson was so very predictable sometimes. She continued a moment later, the smile toned a bit, but still present. "And what about the situation has you so reluctant to sleep?" 

Tenchi thought for a moment, genuinely trying to review all his thoughts and feelings about the matter to try and give an honest answer. Though whenever he came down to the truth, it was simply a matter of confusion about how he should feel. When he told this to the elder woman, Funaho merely nodded sagely. 

"It is a difficult choice that you have to make, Tenchi, and one that I do not envy," she said solemnly. "Though, of course, there is one that I wish for you to choose, but it is not my place to force anything upon both of you. It would be cruel." 

Tenchi sighed, even as he agreed. "I wish there was a simple way out of this, great grandmother. But every time I think I may have found it, it appears to be only a temporary answer to my problem. I wish even more that I did not have to deal with this now. There are so many things going on right now that I could easily say are more important, but this matter, more than any else refuses to leave my mind." 

Funaho bowed her head thoughtfully, addressing some of Tenchi's unspoken problems with her own intellect and experience. Naturally, he would be worried about the appearance of the stranger last week. The young man's appearance had upset a lot of people in and out of the royal family. Knowing, as well, that Tenchi had a great responsibility resting upon his shoulders as the only one that could counter the power that the stranger held. On a sudden thought, Funaho asked another question of the young man. 

"How are the others treating you, since you came here?" 

Tenchi sighed again, that was another problem he would probably have to address soon. "They are alright, I suppose," he answered tentatively, and only continued when the woman motioned for him to do so. "I guess they're not that bad because Ayeka does so much more than myself, but since everything has been getting back to normal other things have gotten tense once or twice. I guess they either don't like my connection to grandfather, or my self very much very much. I suppose it's good, though, that they have stopped their power struggles for now." 

"Ah, yes. My son left a large hole in the political structure of Jurai when he left, though it was much easier to deal with that than the emotional hole he left, especially in Ayeka," Funaho offered thoughtfully. 

"Ayeka?" Tenchi caught the word immediately, knowing part of the story behind his grandfather's disappearance from Jurai and Ayeka's attachment to him. "What was she like after he left?" 

Funaho frowned, remembering the event all too well. "She was very depressed. Of course, there was always hope that he would come back, and that helped in some small way to allow her to function. But as the time wore on, there seemed less and less of a chance that he would be returning. She stopped eating after that, refused to get out of bed for all but the most basic needs and turned away everybody at the door of her bedroom. It wasn't a very good point in her life, and we are only too happy that Sasami was able to pull her out before she did serious damage to herself." 

Tenchi cast his eyes downward as Funaho spoke, wondering just how Ayeka would look in such a state of depression. He had never seen her more than sad, or bit lost, and even then, they were fleeting moments. He came to the quick decision that he would never like to see her any worse. But of course, there still was the problem of just how deep exactly those feelings ran. Did they run deep enough to see anyone else the same way, as long as she was happy? 

"How is she now?" Tenchi asked quietly, once his line of thinking ran into a hard dead end. He couldn't help but remember her tears when she ran from him earlier that evening, nor ignore the blank, lost look she would occasionally send his way during dinner. 

Funaho thought carefully about her answer before speaking. Ayeka was upset, but because she convinced herself she never really heard the whole sentence she still carried hope. Though telling this to Tenchi directly would be a difficult task, the woman realized, as he had never really taken upsetting anyone very well. 

"She is trying to understand," Funaho finally spoke, letting a small hint of worry escape into he tone. "She would like to understand her direct feelings for you, and just how deep they run. I can tell she still carries hope that you may love her as well. I do not understand what happened between you two the other night, but I hope it was a misunderstanding. Over the past couple weeks you have grown so close." 

Tenchi merely blushed in response, thinking that indeed he had gotten much closer to the princess. Which, now that he could think about it, worried him. 

"What...what do you think I should do?" He asked, tentatively, after another few moments of contemplative silence. 

Funaho frowned slightly at his question. It wasn't exactly like she hadn't been expecting the question to be asked sooner or later, yet, for all the time she took thinking about the answer, only one she knew was the right one. 

"That, is something you will have to do on your own, Tenchi." Funaho finally said, lifting one of her hands to pat him gently on the shoulder with an almost motherly affection. "I cannot advise you on a your actions for that is something one must always do by themselves, however, I can say this: listen to your heart Tenchi. It will always know what to do, even in the worst of circumstances." 

The young man suddenly shifted, and leaned back against the trunk of the tree that he was currently sitting under. Funaho, noticing his far away look, took it as a discreet sign for privacy. She knew he had a lot of thinking to do. As quietly as she could, she rose from the ground and began to walk off towards the transport pad that had first brought Tenchi to her. 

"Think on this matter, Tenchi. I know it will not be an easy choice." Suddenly Funaho turned and smiled at him warmly. "But if it's any consolation, I know you will make the right choice." With her final farewell, the first queen stepped on the pad and disappeared into the soft blue light, leaving Tenchi all alone with his thoughts. 

--- 

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the palace, yet another person sighed in vexation, completely at a loss as to what to do. 

_He was worried about Ryoko;_ she tried to convince herself, hearing over and over again the phrase she had last heard Tenchi speak._ That was all, wasn't it? It was not like he confessed his love for her...but still, my heart? Why does my heart ache as if something bad has already happened?_

Ayeka sighed again, and walked quietly over to the small vanity in her expansive room. _I acted irrationally, foolishly even. I didn't even give him the chance to explain what he meant by that._ The princess slammed her palm on the table, a set expression on her face, staring back at her from the mirror. Slowly, her hand crept out, and grabbed a hairbrush that was sitting within easy reach, and then Ayeka began the long process of brushing her lengthy violet locks calming her frazzled nerves as she pulled the bristles through her hair.

_The color that Yosho liked,_ she thought idly, as she ran the wooden comb through the long, straight tresses. Her hair was cool to the touch, and was finer than any silk that could be created, yet when Ayeka looked, really looked at her hair, she saw only a fraud. It was a fix, an attempt by her to get her older half brother to notice her. One, that she ironically noted, did nothing to change his feelings about her. She had changed so much as a child, in order to make herself into the ideal woman, her personality, her hair, they all came back to haunt Ayeka as she sat in front of the mirror, distracting her mind so much that soon she couldn't even perform the simple task of brushing.

"I hate myself," the princess finally muttered, tossing the brush in her hand idly to the floor. She wished, with all her might, that she could take back the words that she said earlier. Now, her feelings were out in the open, raw and vulnerable. What Tenchi would make of them, she had no idea, but as she sat there, staring at her reflection, she found that for all her changes for one man...she wished to undo them. She had always thought that she was happy with her appearance, but the more she looked at herself the more she couldn't help but think it was a part of her dislike. This time, though she would change not because it was what someone liked, or found ideal...but instead, Ayeka could honestly admit that this time she would change for herself. 

Suddenly resolute, Ayeka got up and walked over to her door, throwing it open just in time to see her mother, Misaki, come running toward her, arms outspread. 

"Oh, my little Ayeka! You finally came out! I was so worried...so, so worried." Ayeka allowed herself a tolerant smile before gently disengaging from the hug that threatened to crush the life from her. She could always count on her mother to be over emotional. 

"Mother, there's something I would like you to help me do, if you please." 

Another tight hug and a loudly sobbed 'anything,' was all the answer Ayeka needed. 

  
  
~* * *~ 

  
  


"What am I doing here?" Sighed Kiyone, as she played with a small silver fork. The former galaxy policewoman spared a look around the room she was currently in and sighed once again. It wasn't as if the restaurant wasn't a nice place, in fact it was just the opposite. Every where she looked she could see nice tables, some round, others square covered in nice table clothes of red. They were additionally topped by another white tablecloth angled just right to complement the under one. Diners were enjoying what appeared to be a mixed menu of meats and vegetables. Everything she saw seemed to attest to the fact that this restaurant catered to the middle to upper echelon of folks, especially considering the flatware. 

Kiyone eyed her fork one more time, this time scrutinizing the finely filigreed etchings and the expertly cut edges, perfectly polished to a mirror like shine. Indeed, this place was very nice which made sense why her uncle had recommended it. Her trepidation, she realized, as an object caught her eye and she directed her vision upon it, definitely did not have anything to do with the decorum, nor her lack of experience with these kinds of places. No, her ill feelings were directed solely towards the man entering the room from the far right corner of the small restaurant and making his way towards her with a purposeful gait. Again, Kiyone remembered the situation that brought her to this moment and heard her uncle's voice clearly within the confines of her imagination. 

--- 

"Kiyone!" 

Kiyone instantly recognized the sound of the voice coming from behind her, and adjusted her pace to allow the person hailing her to catch up. 

"Ah, Kiyone, I'm glad I caught you before you left," Tarmin Makibi told his niece as he fought to catch his breath from the short jog he took to catch up to the athletic woman. Once his breath was caught, and his tie adjusted again, Tarmin continued. "I was wondering how have you been settling in? I've been hearing some good things from your team and was just wondering if they were trying to suck up to this old man?" 

Kiyone blinked at the sudden joke, then covered her mouth in a polite giggle, "Uncle Tarmin, you're funny," she told the man, noticing his ear to ear grin. "For your information, I think I've been settling in rather well. Though there have been a few problems, but nothing I can't handle. Hopefully we should be ready to test the new prototype by next week, if everything goes well, that is." 

Tarmin nodded his head at each point his niece brought up, knowing that the 'problems' that Kiyone mentioned would probably never get explained much further than that. If the problem were serious enough, she would tell him details. 

"Indeed," he added a few moments later, thinking ahead to the upcoming prototype tests. "I think you should be really excited about the tests, this sort of thing is right up your alley." 

The young woman nodded, allowing a wide smile to show on her face. "In fact, I am very much looking forward to them. The new specs you designed should allow us to increase fuel ignition efficiency past ninety percent! That's so far ahead of the competition, I would be willing to believe that you have some little troll in your closet that gives you the secrets of the universe." 

Tarmin laughed alone with his niece and wiped the laughter tears from his eyes. "Nonsense, and you know it my dear. You know as well as I do that it's your team that makes everything possible for me. I just come up with the dreams, you design them." The elder man hesitated for a moment after speaking, a reticent expression coming over his face and disappearing so fast that Kiyone missed it altogether. 

"Speaking of fusion efficiencies, how is the graduate student, Jamus, doing? This is supposed to be the topic of his final thesis, and I hope he was able to make some excellent contributions." 

Kiyone shifted uncomfortably at her uncle's rapid switch of topics, wondering at it in the same breath. Jamus was one of those minor problems she had had since first come to the engineering team. He was a polite enough man; in fact, Kiyone was willing to classify him as too polite with a very small dose of shyness. The problem came from his occasional looks directed towards her. They always made her feel so uncomfortable and whenever she asked him if there was something she could do for him he simply gave her one of his crooked smiles and shake his head. At first, the young woman had him pegged for some sort of mild pervert, too shy to speak to the beautiful women but never minding the occasional peek. But soon enough, she noticed that the attention was not directed towards her other female teammate at all. It was almost as if the very striking Megumi didn't even exist in his world, which definitely didn't add up if he were a pervert. 

"He's...um...well, more than I'm used to." Kiyone added quickly, trying to summarize the vast amount of emotions that flowed through her whenever she thought about the young graduate student. It was the truth as far as she was concerned, as well. During her years as a Galaxy Police officer, Kiyone had encountered a lot of guys, both in and out of work and the most distinguishing remark she could make of all of them was that they were all very sure of themselves and were not shy about vocalizing it. She almost didn't know what to do with the quiet Jamus, who more than not gave a simple smile in place of an answer 

Tarmin sighed and gazed towards the far wall with an unreadable expression on his face. "I figured as much. When Makoto first brought him to us I was not entirely sure that he would be able to fit in with the group mentality. Dr. Chen has always said that the boy is a bit more individual oriented than most people. However, he has made several important contributions to the research phase. Despite my initial trepidations, he has managed to fit in well." 

Sensing there was something more to say, Kiyone indicated that Tarmin should continue. 

"Well, here's the thing. I had the opportunity to get to know him a better a short while ago, and from what I gathered, I think you would like him..." 

"Now hold it right there, Uncle, this sounds suspiciously like a set up to me." Kiyone set her fists on her hips and glared at her uncle for a moment. Tarmin simply smiled at her set expression and made a disarming hand gesture. 

"Now, Kiyone, you should give this a chance. I'm not trying to set you up with a boyfriend, but I know that you haven't been going out much since you arrived and I thought that since you two were about the same age it might be nice to be friends. Everything I learned about Jamus, makes me believe he is a lot like you, as well. On top of that, in his time here I have not once seen him go out." 

"I don't know, Uncle. It still sounds like a bad idea to me. I don't think I feel comfortable around him." The young woman put in, keeping one eye carefully on the older gentleman beside her, gauging his reaction. Her uncle almost never did things like this, so naturally, she was curious as to why he was doing this now and with that particular man. At the same time, though, he rarely interfered with her life unless he was really worried. "Are you that worried about me, Tarmin?" 

Tarmin sighed and gave his niece an affectionate look. "I just know how lonely you must get sometimes, sweetheart. I want you to be happy, and making friends with a few people your own age will help you. If you don't want to do this, I won't push it, but I think you might enjoy yourself." 

Kiyone closed her eyes for a moment and fought with her conscious. On one hand, she almost feared trying to make some sort of social life for herself, as if some small part of her still thought that she could go back to the GP and then she wouldn't have time for socializing anymore. Then there was the other part of her mind that admitted that her uncle was right, she was lonely sometimes, especially after her friendship with the Princess had begun. It felt nice to have someone to talk to. Could it truly be as her uncle said? Could it be a nice friendship, or would he want more out of it? Would it hurt to try? 

Tarmin smile at his niece's expression and patted her shoulders affectionately. "Don't worry, Kiyone. I think you will enjoy this." 

Kiyone could one respond with a quietly muttered 'why me?' 

--- 

Back in the present, Kiyone blinked as the man came closer to her, and found herself inspecting him, as if she were visually searching for weapons with her eyes. He didn't appear to be dressed too badly, like herself choosing to go with something more comfortable and casual rather than formal. The dark blue shirt and black pants went well, and she pleasantly noticed that his mop of blonde hair was well groomed, as was his face. Standing as he approached close enough, Kiyone gave him a shy smile in return for his greeting. 

"Kiyone," Jamus said quietly as the woman stood before him, greeting him with a smile. "You look nice." Indeed, Jamus noted, she did look good. Kiyone chose to wear a simple skirt and blouse for their meeting and he noticed that she filled the black, loose fitting skirt and very light blue blouse very well. Her entire outfit seemed to accentuate her creamy skin and brought out her aquamarine eyes well. 

"Thank you," Kiyone replied formally after his compliment, and then made a gesture towards the seat across from her. "Shall we?" 

"Sure." 

Over the next few hours, Kiyone considered herself thoroughly entertained as her and Jamus talked about a wide variety of subjects ranging from their schooling and her previous job. She was very happy to note that not a bit of sadness leaked into her tone as she related to her teammate the situation surrounding her eventual release from the GP and the events leading up to her arrival on Rukbat. Of course, most of the names of people were kept vague when referring to her small vacation to Earth and Jurai as she figured that discretion in those areas was vital. Despite the generalization, though, she found that they had much to share about travels across the galaxy. It seemed that Jamus had a passion for traveling, no matter where it was and was keenly interested in everything she had to say about the many planets she had visited as a part of the Galaxy Police force. In him, she found a willing listener, and, to her surprise, a keen speaker when a few of his favorite subjects were broached. In fact Kiyone was genuinely surprised that the evening passed so quickly when it came time to say goodbye and she readily agreed to another evening when he tentatively asked her. 

The young woman had just entered her apartment after the evening, thinking that all in all the 'date' held quite a few pleasant surprises, when she noticed that her message light was blinking. Wondering who could have possibly called her while she was out Kiyone walked over to the player and looked at the location readout. The name got her attention immediately. She had been trying to call Ayeka for some time since she returned, and was getting worried that none of her communications seemed to go through to the planet Jurai. Everything turned up busy whenever she had tried, and that seemed funny to the naturally cautious young woman. Pressing the play button, Kiyone sat down across from the screen and waited for the message to play through its entirety. Once it was done however, she was scrambling for the phone unit with a frantic look on her face, trying desperately to reach her friend, the pleasant evening all but a forgotten. 

**

To be continued... 

**

**_Author's End Notes:_**_ Well, a nice little set up chapter that just sort of... ends. My apologies to the readers for the Ryoko thing, I wanted to include an additional scene in this part to give her a little bit more lines and such, but at the end, I decided that that particular scene would make a better opening scene than an ending one. So she'll begin to take on a semi-major role by next part. This chapter didn't take me long to write...well okay it was better than the year it took me to put out part A, right? ^^ I chucked this one down to a third of the writing time, so let's see if I can write the next one in another third of this writing time. I think it's doable, I mean I pretty much have been thinking non stop on Sacrifices for the past couple weeks and I think I have reasonably accounted for all the scenes well enough to get me to the end which I envisioned for this chapter way back when I first started writing this work._

_ Ironically enough, of the time it took me to write this part, it took me two and half months to start it and only four or so days of writing to finish it. Weird. I guess I thought about what I wanted in this part too much or something. Well, anyway. Some of the stuff to come: I definitely will resolve the Tenchi/Ayeka/Ryoko relationship by the end of Sacrifices. For good or for ill I won't say here, but one way or another it will be resolved as it plays a central role in the final chapter. Also, it looks like this chapter will be even longer than I thought. Initially I was projecting around 30,000 words or so total. I think with all the scenes I have to put in order to get where I need to be it's going to be a bit longer than that so I may actually extend this to more than four parts. A lot of stuff will happen in chapter 5 and I'm kind of afraid I should have spaced it out more evenly in the earlier parts to make this a little bit more palatable. Rest assured though, that while this particular part is mostly boring setup stuff, the next two will be featuring some pretty heavy plot furthering things. I just needed a nice breather part to get everything into place._

_ What comes next: Tokimi reveals her plans, Ryoko proves that a little slumber can't hold her down when in the pursuit of Tenchi, meanwhile, Ayeka makes some changes and Sasami decides to play...matchmaker? All coming up next in Infinite Wills: Sacrifices, Part C. See you soon! Hopefully. ^^ _


End file.
